The process for the issuance of the tiles of land ownership in the countryside has begun. By implementing one of the fundamental commitments of the government to the countryside, this process will solve once and for all the 25-year issue concerning the ownership of agricultural land, which has brought very serious consequences for sustainable rural development. The first 150 certificates of land ownership were distributed today in Novoselë, at the presence of Prime Minister Edi Rama.
“We made this commitment 2 and a half years ago, but if I asked the Director General of the Mortgage Office to tell you the entire ordeal they had to go through to prepare this process, we would be here until evening because the situation we inherited in terms of the mortgage office was a catastrophic one as well. We have decided to thoroughly change this situation, and we are changing it, although we are aware that there are still very many problems associated with database information” – the Prime Minister said.
The service for issuing the certificate of ownership of agricultural land will be free of charge, and for this purpose the model of legalization of houses in informal settlements will be followed. “A message for all farmers, all families who have been living with the land for years but who, although they have worked it, have never owned it. The moment has come for them to be delivered a service for free, by the state through a consolidated collaboration with municipalities, administrative units and the mortgage office. What we are doing successfully for the legalization process will do as successfully for the agricultural land, which means that ownership certificates for the agricultural land will be issued for free. In addition to bureaucracy, another problem has arisen in terms of the prohibitive fees to prepare the documentation. Heads of the households in the countryside could not afford these fees, and this has prevented them from taking this path. Therefore, we decided to bear all the costs” – the Prime Minister explained.
The Prime Minister continued by saying that at the end of this procedure, they will have for the first time in their hand the document that entitles them to be legal owners of their land. “The head of the household will need to go the respective municipality, the administrative unit, and submit the application, the act of land ownership and the family certificate. Only these 3 papers are required, and the municipality will start the preparatory work to turn this long and exhausting history for families for so many years, in a document that will make them definitely owners of the ownership title for their agricultural land.”
The issuance of the ownership title is a vital process, the delay of which has generated a number of problems for the agricultural and rural development. This process creates the legal framework to develop the property, to sell the land owned, leased or inherited. In addition, it creates new conditions for farmers. It will enable them to benefit from state aid programs in agriculture, or to enter into a new relationship with the banks to obtain loans for their activity. Likewise, the income earned from the transfer of ownership rights on agricultural land from a registered farmer to another farmer will be exempt from personal income tax.
“My family and I were the first to open a farm here. I kept thinking that I was working in vain, because I couldn’t do any investment”, a farmer of the area said. “This is something that our parents have dreamt of for 25 years, and it came finally true”, continued one of the residents who inherited the land two decades and a half ago from his father, but it is only now that he can feel that it belongs to his family. “They took it away from me 50 years ago”, another one said. Finally, I had it back today and became its owner”.
From Novosele, the Prime Minister made an appeal to all those who live with the land in the countryside: “My appeal and our appeal is for all heads of households in the countryside who own the land but do not have the certificate of ownership, to address to municipalities, administrative units, in order to further advance the process. It is not only our commitment, but also a historical necessity to pass from one stage to another. From the agriculture of subsistence and alimony to a developed agriculture and a sustainable rural development.”
MP of the area Valentina Leskaj noted that this process is evidence that the government has turned its attention on agriculture and the countryside. While MP Koco Kokëdhima recalled a serious problem, the unfair acquisition by a handful of people of the previous government of 11 thousand hectares of land, as evidenced by the Task Force of the government.
***
Approximately 80% of the works for the rehabilitation of the embankment in Novosele have been completed. The embankment will protect from flooding and erosion about 5 thousand hectares of land. The area of Novosele has been classified as an area at risk of flooding even when the rainfalls had moderate intensity, also because no investment was made for years, thus putting in serious danger the lives of people and severely damaging the crops and livestock.
During the visit in the region of Vlore, Prime Minister Edi Rama inspected the progress of works for the rehabilitation of the embankment. An investment from which will benefit 12 thousand farmers in the area.
After the floods occurred in February this year, projects for the rehabilitation and the construction of protective infrastructure were undertaken in cooperation with donors. No rehabilitation investment has been made in 25 years. These investments will ensure the long-term safety of the surrounding areas not only to prevent flooding, but also to have a good management of the water resources for the benefit of economic development and agriculture.
