Tag: Kosovo

Life in Kosovo travels up to this power plant in northern South Africa to see how this power plant has contributed in improving the citizens’ lives.~

 

Why has there been an increase in electricity prices since construction began on the new power plant in South Africa? 

What does a World Bank’s own Inspection Panel report say about the standards breached by the World Bank in giving credit for the construction of the Eskom power plant in northern South Africa – in a similar form of credit planned for Kosovo?

 

How have citizens from whom the power plant is taking water needed for agriculture responded? What has been lobbied for by the only Kosovar representative in the Conference of the United Nations for climate change in Durban? 

What are the lessons that Kosovo could take from the example of South Africa?

 

Exclusively in Life in Kosovo, these issues will be elaborated by the South African minister of environment and citizens from both Kosovo and South Africa.

What are the challenges of the privatization in KEK’s distribution?

What is the attitude of Kosovo’s Government, civil society and opposition parties? What are the practices of energy privatization in the region?

 

For this and related issues, the participants in this roundtable were:

 

Naim Hoxha – RIINVEST
Besim Beqaj – Minister of Economic Development
Nezir Sinani – Institute for Development Policy

Visar Kelmendi – energy expert

Fllanza Hoxha – Beqiri, KEDS
Avdullah Hoti – LDK

Shpend Ahmeti – Vetëvendosje movement

Haki Shatri – AAK
Justina Pula – Shiroka, PDK’s MP
Agon Demi – GAP

Haki Abazi – RBF

Krenar Gashi – Institute for Development Policy

 

New website www.gazetajnk.com. Gazeta Jeta në Kosovë is a comprehensive online news portal in Albanian, which includes investigations, analysis, columns and news on Kosovo’s current political, economic, environmental and social affairs.

What are the terms of this privatisation? What assets of KEK, formerly ElektroKosova, are being sold to private companies and at what price? Which companies are interested in this? How will the private company solve the problem of the lack of billing of 40% of the energy generated? What does the American Ombudsman have to say on Kosovo’s complaints that this privatisation process is not transparent? How will our government make sure that the billing problems which continue to take place in Albania following its privatisation of distribution, will not take place in Kosovo as well? Will the Kosovo taxpayer continue to subsidise the electricity theft even after privatisation?
 

To discuss these issues in the privatisation, Jeta Xharra has invited:

Fllanza Hoxha, from KEK’s distribution privatisation project;
Nezir Sinani, from the civil society;
Izet Mustafa, from the Independent Energy Union of Kosovo, SPEK;
Avni Alidemaj, head of the distribution division, KEK.
 

Within this show, BIRN will broadcast an interview with an employee from KEK who will show which part of the distribution will be privatised.

 

After the show, BIRN will broadcast a reportage which speaks of mysterious arsons in the village of Kernica, in Klina.

Questions covered will include: What hides behind the barricades in the north of the country? How do Albanians feel about it, and what account do Serbs give about the blocked streets? What message was brought to Serbs by Russians in military uniforms? How relaxed are KFOR peacekeepers in Mitrovica near the barricades?
 

Journalist Muhamet Hajrullahu stayed for a week in different parts of the north of the country, and will give an exclusive story about the Albanians and Serbs living in the north.
 

After the show, BIRN will broadcast a report from journalist Alban Selimi, who describes how experts from the United States’ prestigious Harvard University came to Kosovo to confirm that its people are living beneath the most damaging chimneys in Europe.
 

BIRN will also broadcast another report by Alban, showing how doctors forged documents for the sake of a colleague.
 

Afterwards, journalist Edona Musa will present a report revealing more forgery, this time for grades and job contracts in schools.
 

Finally, the ‘Youth in Kosovo’ section will feature a report about the ATOMI project and its selection process for finding young people with exceptional intelligence.

Questions to be covered include: What do representatives of Kosovo’s political parties think about this report? According to the report, has the country progressed or regressed? Which sectors are most criticised by the report? How well are corruption and organised crime being fought?  What are the findings of EU Progress Report on the freedom of speech in Kosovo?

 

To discuss these and related issues, Jeta Xharra has invited the following guests to the studio:

 

Hajredin Kuqi, deputy prime minister of Kosovo;
Vjosa Osmani, a deputy from the LDK;
Ardian Gjini, a deputy from the AAK; and
Visar Ymeri, a deputy from Vetëvendosje.

 

Before the debate, BIRN will re-broadcast a report  from September 2010 about an incident in the Municipal Court of Klina, in which former judge Kole Puka, along with lawyer Lon Palushaj and in cooperation with Dr Mit’hat Jakupi declared a citizen from this municipality to be disabled, and benefited from 16,800 euros on his behalf.

 

In 2010, the Association of Professional Journalists of Kosova awarded BIRN’s investigative report as the best TV report on the fight against corruption. This week, all three people involved were arrested. The police managed to find some other similar cases, resulting in the arrest of 13 more people. 

 

During the debate, BIRN will also broadcast a report by journalist Muhamet Hajrullahu, which considers the opinions of key decision makers about the EU Progress Report, including the political parties in the Assembly, Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi and the Assembly President, Jakup Krasniqi. 

 

At the first meeting with the Vice-President for Europe and Central Asia, Mr. Philippe Le Houerou and South Eastern Europe Director Ms. Jane Armitage, Jeta Xharra raised the issue of New Kosovo lignite power plant plans and pointed out the WB’s lack of transparency in their country web-site and technicalities that arise from the Bank’s published ToR for the work of the Expert Panel evaluating the Kosovar project.

During the meeting with US Congress and State Department Jeta Xharra presented to the USIP audience issues related to the freedom of press, touching also political matters and the ongoing developments related to the energy projects.

 

The meeting was held with the Helsinki Committee staff and Eliot Engel’s office on political, freedom of information and energy matters.

 

A technical presentation was given to European Executive Directors of the World Bank; SEE Director Jane Armitage, Kosovo Director of WB Jan-Peter Olters and New Kosovo Power Plant technical team; Lagarde and Zoellick, on the problems related to the project and their reflection on WB’s mandate as well as how the ESKOM project reflects the problems raised about Kosovo.

Whereas, Mr. Robert Zoellick World Bank’s President addressed the CSOs together with Lagarde that Kosovo is a win-win project, which according to him will allow the country to address the energy problems and close down the most polluting plant in Europe. Xharra asked him if he was ready to carry the burden of another ESKOM in Kosovo, when no proper alternative energy studies were carried out and not much was done in solving energy accountability issues.

 

Zoellick expressed his optimism on this project even though they were put in a position where they had to decide whether they wanted to help or raise their hands altogether off this project ; both options remain open at this stage.

Other meetings with NGOs from around the world were held, Xharra had a TV interview with Voice of America and Daniel Serwer, and other World Bank Departments were visited and meetings with different heads of the WB were held. Overall, the week served well to raise the issues related to the Kosovar projects at the highest levels of the Bank.

 

Questions covered during the debate included: What happens with the dozens of people who land at Prishtina International Airport every day from foreign countries as part of the repatriation programme? Do they have somewhere to go and/or live? Does anyone take repatriated children to school? Does society support repatriated people, or is it something that is done simply because of visa liberalisation?

 

In order to discuss this issue, Jeta Xharra was joined in the studio by the following:

Verena Knaus, a UNICEF researcher;
Vera Pula, from the Foundation for Open Society;
Daut Qylangjiu, an RTK journalist from the Roma editorial desk;
Sylvian Astier, from the Swiss Embassy, Migration Attaché at the Swiss Embassy; and
Islam Caka, the Director of the Department for Citizenship, Exile and Migration in the Ministry of
Internal Affairs.

Before the debate, BIRN broadcast a documentary discussing the situation on the ground, focusing on repatriated children who, in most cases, do not know any of the languages spoken in Kosovo.

“Several reports of international organisations, such as UNHCR, Human Rights Watch and others have concluded that RAE [Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian] communities are the poorest in Kosovo. It is more difficult for them to be repatriated in Kosovo, due to the fact that they have lived abroad for many years, and they come back without knowing any of the spoken languages in Kosovo. Even worse, they have no homes or shelter. Therefore, they will either have to sell their properties or go back to where they were, or to third countries,” said Mr. Qylangjiu at the beginning of the debate.

Asked if Kosovo has the capacity to respond to all the people being repatriated, Mr. Caka said that “we still have a bad situation, but there is an increasing awareness in our institutions that we have to ‘re-socialise’ these people, and treat them as citizens.”

However, he could not give a straightforward response about the places to which RAE communities are repatriated, and his explanations did not coincide with the reality as presented by Mr. Qylangjiu, a representative of that community.

“Legally, there are 12,000 Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians in Germany that can be sent back [to Kosovo] any time. But the practice is that it is very difficult to send them back. In the last year, Germany sent back about 133 Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian children, and this was much less than we hoped for, since lots of people tried to disappear and did not want to come back,” said Ms. Knaus.

 

Regarding these children, their education and language learning, Ms. Pula said that “most of them do not speak the language. Some language courses were held, but only by NGOs. The courses were not held by the responsible institutions, such as the Ministry of Education, the municipal education directorates or schools.”

Mr. Astier said that “there are more RAE citizens than Albanians in Switzerland, and we know that they need more protection because of their conditions; therefore, they are temporarily admitted. However, I have personally observed that they have places to stay and work in Kosovo. Because of these reasons, I do not see any reason why they need to stay in Switzerland as asylum seekers.”

Click here to watch debate