Remarks by the Minister of State for Reconstruction Arben Ahmetaj:
Hello everyone,
Today I would like to share good news on a significant concrete step in the Reconstruction Process with you and mostly with the affected citizens and families that lost their houses due to the devastating earthquake that hit the country on Nov 26 last year earthquake and are currently housed in tents and rented homes.
We are ready to start work to construct the initial group of some 3,400 private homes funded by the Reconstruction Fund.
The Council of Ministers today passed the decision to approve the limit fund of 8.7 billion lek, or about EUR 73 million, which will be allocated to two implementing units, namely the Albanian Development Fund and the Municipality of Tirana.
The total financial impact of 8.7 billion is covered by the “Reconstruction Fund” adopted in the 2020 budget and used by the implementing units as following:
- For the Albanian Development Fund (ADF) in the amount of 6,528,564,252 lek under the item “capital expenditures with internal funding.”
ADF will build 2.500 individual homes.
- For Tirana Municipality in the amount of 2,207,854,893 lek under the item “capital expenditures with internal funding.”
Tirana Municipality will use this fund to build 889 individual houses.
The remaining funds in the procurement process will certainly be reallocated in the state budget for the Reconstruction Fund.
I would also like to emphasize and inform all interested parties, starting from private companies to Chambers of Commerce, both Albanian and foreign Chambers of Business, that an international competition is announced by the two implementing units ADF and the Municipality of Tirana for the construction of 3400 individual houses at the beginning of next week.
Interested firms can find the necessary information on the website of the Ministry of State for Reconstruction www.rindertimi.gov.al or even on the APP www.app.gov.al.
In the meantime, both the Municipality of Tirana and the Albanian Development Fund will issue public announcements based on the law to invite international companies to participate in the process of rebuilding individual homes.
I will personally inform donors, and foreign embassies in Tirana, national and international chambers of commerce on the start of the procurement process.
Meanwhile, the in-depth damage assessment process goes on. The Construction Institute is expected to complete the process on March 30 and the Municipality of Tirana is projected to complete it on April 23.
Once the final in-depth assessment estimates are provided, a second procurement process for the remaining part will take place.
I want also to share with you the fact that local government authorities in the hardest-hit areas are assessing the individual application files of each family following the one-month application process.
The individual houses will be built according to the house models we have introduced recently. They are structures according to the modular houses technology based on “the rebuild again, rebuild better” principle we have jointly established with donors, according to the best building standards EUROCODE 8, earthquake-resistant withstanding powerful 9-magnitude quakes, storms and floods, a technology that saves energy by up to 30%, or about 150,000 lek per year in savings for every family and above all, requiring a short construction time of only 30 days.
We are committed – as Prime Minister has publicly declared – to make sure that around 4,000 families will celebrate the New Year 2021 in their new homes.
And I want to stress a key word that this government, this majority has at its core, that is, solidarity and care for citizens, because, as it is rarely the case even in much wealthier countries than Albania, the quake-affected families will benefit these homes for free.
Although it is a unique program we are convinced that we are doing the right thing for the Albanian citizens in need because of that natural disaster of November 26th.
Meanwhile work is underway. We are introducing mandatory local plans. We have unveiled the master plan for Thumana. Tomorrow we present the plan for Shijak and will keep presenting these plans until end on March 31 and meanwhile conduct local and central level consultations with citizens and families affected by the November 26 earthquake last year.
Meanwhile, in full reference to that important principle of transparency, two days ago we held a meeting of the State Commission for Reconstruction, where donors, USA, European Commission, Turkey, UNDP, UN, the World Bank were for the first time invited as full-fledged Commission members and the Commission is open to any donor wishing to participate. Meanwhile, European Commission experts will soon join the Secretariat of the State Commission for Reconstruction. We have agreed with the UNDP to support transparency and consultation at a local level.
As you can see, the Reconstruction process has entered a new phase and once the procurement process completes we will see the two implementing agencies starting concrete work to build the private homes soon, whereas all the construction sites in the areas determined to host new urban and economic development projects will open this year.
Thank you!
