WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3776/97 by Mihail PAPAYANNAKIS to the Commission. Arsenic tank in Albania
C 158/144 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 25. 5. 98 (98/C 158/190) WRITTEN QUESTION E-3739/97 by Gianni Tamino (V) to the Commission (21 November 1997) Subject: Albania The health and hygiene situation in Albania has now reached alarming proportions, having further deteriorated after the recent uprising and the resulting power vacuum. The water supply and sewage system is inadequate, antiquated or non-existent, and causes 53% of gastric and intestinal disorders among the population, with 120 000 severe cases of diarrhoea per year, and a serious threat of epidemics of cholera and hepatitis. There are no controls over food and animal production. Water reserves in the cities are totally inadequate because of the pollution of artesian wells, and the problems of reclaiming contaminated land and the storage of toxic and harmful substances in abandoned factories remain. At Fier, for example, 800 cubic metres of arsenic salts are allegedly lying in a fertilizer factory stored in a highly corrosive storage silo, which may have disastrous results for the whole southern Mediterranean. What kind of and how much aid has been granted to Albania in the environmental field up to the present (in terms of both quantity and percentage of the total)? Does the Commission consider environmental issues to be a priority for its present and future financing? What steps does it intend to take to tackle the above-mentioned emergencies? Were environmental emergencies on the agenda of the recent meeting of the Conference of Donors for Albania and what decisions were taken on the subject? (98/C 158/191) WRITTEN QUESTION E-3776/97 by Mihail Papayannakis (GUE/NGL) to the Commission (21 November 1997) Subject: Arsenic tank in Albania According to press reports and allegations by the President of the Italian Senate who recently visited Albania, there is a tank of arsenic in the region of Fier which is about to burst. This tank is located in a disused chemicals factory and contains 800 cubic metres of the substance. If this tank bursts, this dangerous liquid will reach the southern Adriatic and pollute the shores of the Albania and also coastal areas in Greece and Italy. These two countries have agreed to provide Albania with economic assistance to repair the tank. Will the Commission say whether it is aware of these circumstances and whether it intends to provide Albania with economic assistance in order to avert this ecological disaster? Joint answer to Written Questions E-3536/97, E-3739/97 and E-3776/97 given by Mr Van den Broek on behalf of the Commission (5 January 1998) The principles of sustainable development guide the Community support to Albania in the field of environment. It is in particular based on the environment policy of the Albanian government as set out in the national environmental action plan approved in 1993. The Commission has explicitly supported the identified priorities and developed the following initiatives: › between 1993 and 1999, a total of 28. 7 MECU (out of an overall amount of 474 MECU) have been earmarked for environment related projects within the Phare programme (institutional strengthening, policy advice, wetland management, strategies for water and waste management, water and wastewater infrastructures, pesticides disposal). In addition, funding is under consideration for wastewater treatment projects under the cross-border programmes with Italy and Greece. This is complemented by small scale initiatives funded through the Albanian development plan which have a direct impact on the environment;