Grow Green or Grow Poor

Grow Green or Grow Poor

Many continue to make the appeal that protecting the environment is the most important matter in our world but think about poor people who have to work so hard to make a living. We are not going outside of our home; we are taking Kosovo as an example. In this small country with around 2mil people it is impossible to grow the economy without diminishing the environment. Which green you want more? (A tree or a hundred euro bill) IMAGE on PP

Considering Kosovo with a GDP per capita 3500 Euro per year, is that most of us care more about our standard of living than we do about the health of some species.

In our presentation today, we will explain that there is no way we can grow Kosovo’s economy without diminishing the environment. We took 4 factors which are the main ones to grow our economy; these are: Power plant “Kosova e Re” ,Mining “Trepca”, Wood Industry and Infrastructure

Infrastructure

Importance of infrastructure

Years ago when our country started to invest in infrastructure we used to say why we are spending millions on highways while we can give this money to poor people, build them houses, give them food and cloths, or invest in factories where we can create new jobs and decreased unemployment. Yes creating factories would decrease unemployment but how could we export goods that would be produced in these factories.

Investing in infrastructure the economy of a country will increase, on the other hand will have negative impact in the environment and I will give you facts on these.

Benefits of highways

Network

Easy way to export and import

Employment and earnings

In order to achieve all these of course the environment will be diminished. For example when Kosovo build these new highways, agriculture was destroyed in some parts because they were build on the land where we could grow fruits and vegetables for our own goods, but who is doing that now days ( that is another topic, which would keep me here for hours, but maybe next time.)

On my way to Peja for example I see that the highway goes right next to the private houses; noise, air pollution and the risk of getting hit by cars are the main negative factors that a highway could bring.

But our question is, can we grow our economy without diminishing the environment, the answer is NO!

According to http://invest-ks.org/en/Infrastructure

The road network, consisting of 630 km of main roads, has been rebuilt to a large extent over the past years, with the addition of some completely new roads. With the construction of  a highway connecting Albania and Serbia directly through Kosovo,  its  becoming an important gateway in the corridor connecting the Adriatic Sea to Western Europe.

Employment and earnings

Besides road user benefits, employment and earnings growth are the other impacts that rural regions hope to receive when a new interstate highway runs through the county.

TREPQA mine and metallurgical complex

Trepca mine and metallurgical complex in 1980 was a major factor for our economy.

It had approximately 41 mines around the country and about 23000 workers and with a turnover of $100 million. it represented 70% of Kosova’s GDP.

The war in Kosova in 1999 basically destroyed a great amount of Trepca’s assets, decreasing the amount of production only 7 mines today being active after the war and being able to hire only 2000 workers from 23000 that worked before war, but Trepca still is productive even in the existing condition.

One of the best examples of not being able to raise our economy without destroying our environment is TREPCA because it represents the best opportunity to raise our economy if the investments are done but also in the same time it represents the huge damages that could cause along with the investments

• The environmental effects of Trepca

Minerals in Kosova :  zinc, lignite, copper etc.

• According to the World Bank Kosova has the 5th  place of lignite in Europe.
• it contributes 97% of production of energy and 3% in hydrocentral, with 14700 million ton, KOSOVA has the 5th place of reserves of lignite  in Europe.
• Countries around the world have intentions to reduce carbon dioxide emissions . Yet each tone of lignite burned produces more than a tone of carbon dioxide. In combination with its low energy content per tone and high proportion of impurities, lignite is a very undesirable energy source which in Kosova is used 97% in producing energy.

    Trepca mines and the deposits of waste of minerals that are around Kosova cause a really big and dangerous problem for our land and society.

The negative effects:

• Acidic effluents dust emissions
• unsecured working – the conditions in mines are bad, basically it’s a unsafe place for employers there.
•  poorly maintained and unstable tailings are a serious problem for people who live nearby
• waterways are polluted
•  Air pollution
• Adverse impact on land use and biodiversity
• Lung disease

• The most  polluted areas are :Mitrovicë, Novobërd
• The impact of investments of trepca in Kosova’s economy
• Trepca is significant for Kosova’s future .

If investments will be done all according in Trepca mines& metallurgical complex it will have huge impact in our economy.

First during the reconstructions there will be new jobs where citizens of Kosovo would be engaged to work . the construction would lead to thousand new employers in Trepca ,the investments  will be according to law of mines and environmental which will minimize the negative effects that are nowadays. This will influence our GDP growth, which we as a country are in need of it.

Kosova e Re power plant

The long awaited project is now becoming a reality but should we feel threatened by it or should we look at it as a way out for Kosovo’s economy?

‘Kosova e Re’ is looked as a promising project which would turn Kosovo to the leading exporter in the Balkans (who wouldn’t want that). But due to high costs many people thought that this would not be the solution for Kosovo because we are already into debts and we wouldn’t want more of that.  

One of the groups that disagreed with this project is KOSID, according to them such constructions shouldn’t be made because of these main reasons:
1. It is unnecessary