Speech Prime Minister Rama delivered in a meeting with journalists, and answers to questions asked by citizens through social networks:
Good afternoon everyone!
I hope and wish that you’ve had some good holidays.
As you have been informed, I am here ready to answer not only your questions, but also many questions that citizens have asked on Twitter and Facebook. The first part will focus on this conversation, with interaction with social networks. Answers will be direct and after answering to your questions; we will continue with those who follow this conference on Twitter and Facebook.
I would like to start with the most important sector of the moment, I believe, that is tourism. I will not do an imaginary balance or a balance based on all entrances and exits in Albania, so I will not consider as a tourist any of you who has gone abroad and has come back during this period. Referring only to the number of foreign visitors not resident in Albania that he have had so far, there has been a growing influx of tourists by 14% compared to a year ago, and a total number of nonresident visitors of 1 million 213 thousand. It is quite a significant figure considering that not only in Albania, but throughout Mediterranean area tourism was affected by July’s bad weather, and taking also into account a particularity of our country that is associated with the month of Ramadan.
On the other hand, without trying to hide for any reason and the inherited problems that still need to be addressed, I believe that this season we managed to have much cleaner beaches than before, thanks to an intensive action of the Armed Forces. I take this opportunity to thank them and to thank also the Minister of Defense who led them and who dedicated part of her time to this action interacting with public institutions and with a number of precious volunteers from Albania and Kosovo, engaged under the coordination of the National Coastal Agency, a brand new agency created by this government. We have a total number of persons engaged specifically to clean the beaches, in the period from March till the day we are talking, since the engagement is intense and persistent, on daily basis in any beach resort area with over three thousand vacationers.
On the other hand, since July 9 camps of volunteers have been functional in the 9 most frequented areas by tourists, both domestic and foreign, from Riolli, to Tale, Gjiri i Lalzit, Durres, Golem, Vlora, Dhërmi, Himara and Borsh. The total number of persons engaged in these camps is 1,200 people. Watchtowers were established for the first time. In practice, we have had 7 pilot beaches where 40 young people were certified as lifeguards according to international standards.
So, the coastline and the lakes, as well as all protected areas have remain such and have been kept safe from numerous attempts of sustainable illegal construction, besides seasonal ones, that have been identified throughout the territory and sadly have sometimes been authorized in violation of the directive of the government by some local authorities, against which appropriate measures will be taken.
On the other hand, the National Coast Agency, although still emerging, has available a small number of people with brand new experience, who will take measures for environmental rehabilitation in some areas.
Of course, let me repeat it, although the overall picture is positive, it does not leave room for any kind of triumphalism, or for any kind feeling that makes us create balances similar to traditional balances of tourism, which were entirely based on imaginary successes. The problems are still there. We have an inherited a problem which is very serious, concerning a series of national roads that are still open. Works continue at low rates, because we continue to face debts created precisely because of these public works that started in the most irresponsible way by the previous government that put companies in a terribly difficult situation and made them have debts in order to continue with the works. Today, this situation is reflected in many roads – a typical one is that of Pogradec, which he have inherited for the previous government – and it is due to these roads that we cannot be today completely satisfied.
Of course, this is a major financial problem we are dealing with intensively, both with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, because our budget lacks the amount of money needed to close the all these roads that, I repeat, the previous government opened in the overall bacchanalian situation with state finances and under the triumphal march towards imaginary successes, without considering the available funds.
Negotiation is not simple at all, because we are dealing with the necessity to ensure money from sources other than the state budget. We are negotiating and have had approval from a major international bank. But of course, I repeat it, we meanwhile we are in a program with the International Monetary Fund which we have no tendency to not respect point by point.
The second problematic issue is related to canalizations. We are all aware that the development of tourism in Albania has been a totally chaotic development. On the way of this development, previous governments and particularly the Government of the past eight years did not undertake any leading and coordination role, thus allowing that the filth and sewage coexist with all those who have built by investing in the coastline, or with those who come here to spend their holidays in our coastline. With this regards, a special program is being prepared for several months that will join a number of foreign financial resources in order to start and heal this major plague of sewage in our coastline. We have very hot areas, such as a part of Durres beach, or Himara that constitutes one of the strongest points to support tourism development in the coming years; I am talking about the Ionian coast, meaning by this Himara which has an alarming situation given that there are no sewage systems.
On the other hand, another inherited and major problem on national level that during the tourism period is very sensitive on the coastline, is the problem of drinking water. We know that the previous Government came to power with the promise that within a mandate would solve both the sewage system issue and the drinking water issue. Not only did it not solve these issues, but after eight years they became even more problematic, to such an extent that today we are entitled to talk about the big pit in the energy sector, and about a bigger pit of debts accumulated by a total mismanagement of water supplies across Albania and by the huge corruption that has characterized this mismanagement, but also by the complete lack of an integral vision for investment in water supply system nationwide.
On the other hand, it is true that this year we have had much cleaner beaches, but have not solved the waste problem which of course is a problem inherited in over 20 years and which cannot be solved within 300 days. But we are addressing it and we have also started to work on a national plan for waste management, which, obviously, along with drinking water, canalizations, now will enter a stage that, we believe, is more easily treatable thanks to the new Administrative-Territorial Reform.
We are still facing environmental crime and are witnesses that this crime is not yet totally under control. The new law that we passed on the State Police, includes the State Police that has undertaken action against this criminal activity which, until yesterday was left completely out of the loop of the State Police and was dealt with by any sort of inspectorates, weak and corrupted structures who instead of preventing environmental crime have cooperated with it. We will continue to strengthen measures against this crime. The State Police is starting. The new work protocol work, which is being added to the work protocol of the State Police concerning the environmental crime, will be ready in September and it will be duty of every department, every police station and every police officer engaged on the ground, to properly prevent and strike crimes from serious crimes to ordinary ones, to deal with the same intensity and the same responsibility environmental crime. In concluding this, I want to stress that today we are facing a balance of local barbarity that cannot be compared to anything in the region and in Europe. The barbarity of a failed territorial organization and a failed government with hundreds of units lacking capacities most of the time and being ruled by corruption. Barbarity over the territory and local and national interests.
The second point is of course order, since we have inherited a traditional balance year after year and you can easily verify that in summer it has deteriorated in terms of the order. Today we are optimistic for the change of course based on the work done by the Ministry of Interior and the State Police to ensure a good tourist season. For this reason 2,388 police officers were hired and 201 vehicles, 17 vessels and a helicopter were engaged. For the first time we had police in summer uniform patrolling the beach, even by light means such as bicycles. In this service, that was piloted this year and that will be much more structured next year, 100 police officers of the General Patrol played a very important role as prompt mediators between vacationers and forces police.
4 temporary police stations were set up in tourist areas, in areas that are far from existing police units, from Theth to Ksamil. Main roads were monitored by air with helicopter on rush hours for increased security and in order to guarantee traffic fluency. We can say, just as it many vacationers come from Kosovo can witness, that for the first time intensity of controls at the borders fell drastically. The borders have been in overall free at peak hours and police work was structured in such a way police managed both to control borders and to not obstruct vacationers. And I am convinced that next year we will have even better results.
Now, let’s look at figures. I’d rather never mention figures when it comes to murder, but eventually figures are stubborn and the dead have names and surnames and neither can they disappear nor can be deleted. Compared to the same period of 2013, murders have dropped by 30%, which is a figure that certainly will improve in the future and which since clearly shows that there has been a significant improvement in this regard. There has been an even more significant improvement with regard to armed robbery and use of violence against vacationers in tourist areas and on the roads, which cases have dropped by 75% compared to a year ago.
Based on the figures I have here, from 1 June to 15 August there have been 22% fewer road accidents, 29% fewer deaths in road accidents and 39% fewer seriously injured in road accidents compared to the same period of a year ago. Let’s make it clear that the issue of road accidents still remains a complex issue that today is less related to the State Police work in this area, where we have seen and we see substantial changes on a daily basis; rather it is more related to an inherited condition of the national roads that we all know can be everything but national roads of a European country.
The number of vehicles coming from abroad has risen significantly compared with the chart of the last 8 years. Practically, there are approximately 100 thousand more vehicles that have entered our country compared with a year ago.
I believe that all vacationers can attest that there has been a drastic change in terms of public peace, since the problem of loud music until dawn that used to horrify tourists in Albania does not exist anymore. I am not saying that we have done the maximum, but we have managed to guarantee a general peace and, for the first time, criminal proceedings have started against those who have disturbed peace after midnight in populated areas of vacationers.
The issue continues to be evident. Our police have the lowest level of education in the region, and obviously in Europe. As result, although improved, their behavior still leaves much to be desired. Just as the overall level of performance, although improved, still needs a lot of work. But we are confident that the work done in the first phase of governance, the recruitment of 1000 new police officers who are going through two stages on the path of the Order Academy, and reopening of the Academy itself, will give us in the coming years, other extraordinary results when it comes to communication and to the performance standards of any police officer.
The problem of the number of officers engaged in the territory stills continues to be a problem. We have the lowest number in the region and certainly in Europe. The increase of this number is conditioned by our financial opportunities. However, safety has been and remains a fundamental priority of the program and our government. We will continue to advocate strongly, growth, empowerment and transformation of the Albanian State Police and to transform it from a betrayed and ruined body, in one of the most exemplary and qualitative troops in the region and why not Europe
The third issue within this problematic situation remains technology, but we are close to the preparation of a plan of the Ministry of Interior to combine security with new technology capacities. I believe that this time next year we will be in other conditions and could talk about projects implemented or on the way of implementation and that will completely transform the relationship between the police and citizens; citizens and all safety regulations, as monitoring with cameras will be operational starting from Tirana. Finally, after so many years we will be rid from police in every traffic light and will have a much more objective and technological control, which will bring a significant transition to a new phase of the State Police.
Now, let’s talk about power. It’s been a tough year. Heritage is terrible, but I can say that performance is constantly improving as far as the administration of power distribution network is concerned. It is worth mentioning here that for the first time probably since the ’70s, investments have been made in the electricity network across the Ionian coast, an important tourist area where power outages have accompanied constantly every vacationer. This year investments have been made with a considerable amount of 66 million and 841 thousand Lekë especially in this coastline. Overhauls of distribution network substations have been performed in all coastal tourist areas, and the number of overhauls in the period May-June has been almost 100% higher than the previous year. Although there have been some blackouts, the special teams of technical experts have been able to intervene on time and restore power in a very reasonable time.
We know that the problem still consists in electricity theft, and we will intensify measures against thieves and the barbaric behavior with the power network.
To be continued…
