BERAT, Albania, Jun 22 - A pleasant hilly town of narrow, winding streets, Berat has survived the chaotic urban development of central Albania and hopes to grasp a unique opportunity in tourism. But it is also threatened by the unavoidable environmental and urban perils of a transition economy.
Few European towns can offer picturesque ambience and rich cultural heritage without the sight of hordes of tourists, but Berat, one of the oldest cities in Albania, is a special place where the visitor too, feels special.
While roaming the white streets of this 65,000 inhabitant town, the curiosity of the traveller towards the locals will be reciprocated, as most tourists have not yet heard of this secret jewel of the Balkans.
Only one sixth of visitors to Berat are foreigners, and those holding a foreign passport are usually ethnic Albanians from neighbouring countries.
Human settlements have existed in Berat for 4,000 years and the city nowadays correctly symbolizes some of Albania's most characteristics features: a land for which many empires have spilled blood but also where religious cohabitation has endured more than anywhere else in the region.
Illyrian tribes, Macedonian, Roman, Slav, Byzantine and Ottoman rule have all left their mark, but nothing amazes visitors more than the ancient mosques and orthodox churches that attest to a religious tolerance still prevailing in this mostly Muslim country.
Designated a 'museum city' under communist rule in 1976, its old white houses and monuments have been spared from socialist urban planning, and the regime's atheism campaign did not claim Berat's beautiful religious buildings as it did elsewhere in the country.
Now Fadil Nasufi, mayor of Berat, wants additional protection and awareness of the city's value in face of the threats posed by the wild urban development and environmental neglect that took new dimensions post-socialism.
"We are in the very early stages of tourism development, but it will allow us to face the challenges and avoid mistakes," the mayor told IPS.
In cooperation with local and national institutions, Berat's town hall is pushing forward its candidacy to the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) World Heritage List with the help of foreign experts.
Most of Albania still lacks the basic tourism facilities and comfort that visitors expect, and Berat, while being well ahead of most Albanian towns, will have to step up efforts if it wants its infrastructure to meet the requirements of those travellers who seek UNESCO sights.
The process has already been rewarding, as international cooperation has "helped the city's experts learn from preservation techniques elsewhere," Nasufi told IPS. But funds are still lacking.
UNESCO does not automatically provide the money, but municipal officials seem confident it will indirectly bring much needed financing, and not only by attracting wealthy visitors.
"The municipality expects this will increase awareness of the city's value within regional and national authorities and even foreign donors," Nasufi says. "It will work as a green light for us; it will put us in the world map."
But the mayor is aware nothing will happen if citizens sit on their backs and wait for a miracle. Calling for increased citizen awareness, Nasufi warns "we will have to work by ourselves too."
International cooperation has brought the town much more than just dreams of tourism: some of the environmental challenges go well beyond it, though they cannot be completely disconnected from it.
The municipality is involved in various projects with international organisations and the European Union to solve the town's waste management problems, its biggest environmental threat which, if tackled, could increase the town's tourist potential.
Most of Albania still relies on incineration as the main waste treatment technology, and Berat is working on a land field for waste management to be located in the town's outskirts which will hopefully ensure thorough elimination.
Air pollution is not the sole danger. Another victim is one of Berat's natural assets: the river Osum, which runs through the city.
For decades, two factories and the sewage system have dumped their waste into the river. The collapse of state socialism caused the closure of the factories, something which locals did not necessarily welcome, but the city now only has to deal with the sewage system which still partly uses the river.
If properly treated, "the river could be a great asset for the landscape and for tourism," Vladimir Cela, responsible for International Relations and Tourism at Berat's municipality told IPS. "We could create a lake through it in which people can swim and rent boats."
The towns dream, Cela says, is to build a waste treatment plant away from the city following an example learnt in Italy. "The waste could be placed in a chamber and the gas from the decomposition of biological waste would be collected to produce electric energy, which is badly needed in Albania."
But in Albania something always seems to stand on the way of dreams: "We need financing for this," says Cela. A population in need of tourism, electricity and a clean environment would certainly appreciate it. (END/2007)
[Source: IPSNews]
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