Prishtina, 03 June 2015 – Deputy Minister of Economic Development, Besa Zogaj-Gashi, attended today the “Informal Waste Collection in Kosovo” conference, organized by ECMI, to discuss on challenges and opportunities for the treatment of this major problem.

Attending the conference, among other officials, were Deputy-Minister of Labor and Social Welfare, Rita Hajzeraj-Beqaj, Representative of the European Union Office in Kosovo, Sirje Poder, and Executive Director of ECMI Kosovo, Adrian Zeqiri.

Deputy-Minister Zogaj-Gashi, speaking on the matter, said that despite the considerable economic growth, the unemployment rate among the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities remains high, and this forces some of them to engage in informal waste collection activities.

“Low collection rates and wild landfills are among the main problems faced by the companies, however, this does not mean that solutions for this problem can’t be found, and they can range from the incorporation of informal collectors in the overall waste management system, to the establishment of some sort of cooperation between public companies and informal collectors, and better implementation of the law on waste by municipalities,” said Zogaj-Gashi.

She expressed the readiness of MED to cooperate and coordinate with ECMI in view of integration of this informal sector into the formal waste management sector, with the aim of advancing management in this sector.

On the other hand, Deputy-Minister of Labor and Social Welfare Rita Hajzeraj-Beqaj said that this ministry pays special attention to the employment of vulnerable persons and groups with special needs.

According to her, among those vulnerable groups are various societal groups from all communities, however, Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities stand out as communities with the highest unemployment rates and lowest welfare standards, as depicted in the official statistics and studies.