The Deputy Minister of MMPH, Ferat Shala, described the project 'Study of Agricultural Soil Pollution in Kosovo' as very important.
02 October 2013
02-10-2013-Today, in the conference hall of the new building of the Government of Kosovo (former Rilindja), the first promotional meeting of the project 'Study of Agricultural Soil Pollution in Kosovo' was held. This is a project financed by the European Union, managed by the European Union office in Kosovo, and implemented by the German organization for international cooperation GIZ, and NIRAS from Poland.
The Deputy Minister of Environment, Ferat Shala, welcomed the start of this project, describing it as very important regarding the data that will emerge from this study about the sustainable use and preservation of agricultural land as a very valuable resource for the agro-economic development of the state of Kosovo and for improving the overall environmental condition. Shala added that he believes this project will produce valuable and reliable data to determine the state of our agricultural land and to what extent different parts of it may be contaminated.
Christof Stock, from the European Union office in Kosovo, said that the main objective of this project is to support the MAFRD and MoH in improving the management system of agricultural lands and providing assistance in the establishment of a permanent system for monitoring pollution of agricultural lands. He considered that the ALPS project also includes a very important component, that of detailed land studies in 17 municipalities, to assess the presence of heavy metals in agricultural and food products, and to evaluate the possibility of the spread of these pollutants to humans.
Otherwise, the main goal of the ALPS project is to support government institutions in the process of assessing the pollution of agricultural land as a very important element for the implementation of national legislation related to the management of agricultural land and environmental protection. Through this project, it is intended to achieve an update of the relevant legislation, strengthening the capacities of the staff of the Ministry of Environment, Spatial Planning, and Infrastructure (MMPH), the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Rural Development (MBPZhR), the Kosovo Environmental Protection Agency, the Kosovo Agriculture Institute, and the Food and Veterinary Agency, in all aspects related to the analysis of agricultural land. It is also foreseen that results will be achieved in the detailed assessment of agricultural land pollution, the identification of sources, and recommendations for monitoring and controlling the fertility of agricultural land.