The coastal southern city of Saranda was the next stop on the Prime Minister Edi Rama’s tours and conversations with the citizens to discuss a range of current problems, issues and development projects.
Prime Minister Edi Rama: Over the period we have had the honour to govern the country, we haven’t managed to do everything properly and a lot remain to be done. Saranda, Vlora district and whole Albania, despite the investments already complete, and not in physical aspect but in every aspect concerning the country’s life, all resemble the reconstruction sites already opened throughout the country now.
If you wish to know how I see the work done to date and how I see the today’s Albania, I would say that you can just imagine the image of the today’s reconstruction site in the town of Thumane, Fushe-Kruje, Tirana or elsewhere within the perimeter of the quake-affected area, including Laç, Kavaje, where the view is completely different from the ruins and wounds a day after the devastating earthquake, but what is tangible there is not enough for the quake-affected residents there to start moving towards a normal and qualitative life. The ruins and debris have been removed, while path is cleared to the underground infrastructure, the soil-consolidation layers and geological reinforcement work has completed and the foundations have been laid for new single-family and multi-family housing complexes, but they have yet to become quality living spaces.
This is also the case with all sectors, including education, health, agriculture and everywhere else. Of course, there are territories where more progress has been made and the revenues from this progress are countable, but there are also territories where progress has yet to become tangible. There are people who are directly feeling and reaping the benefits of progress, as they have increased their employment and work-related income, and this is the case with local residents here, who are engaged in tourism business and thanks to the transformations they are seeing more visitors and therefore are earning a lot more. Yet there are people, many people indeed in certain areas and remote villages, who have witnessed no transformation at all and they might rightly wonder: “It is great that the boulevards, walkways, the cities’ centres, bypass roads, new hospitals have been built, the textbooks have been provided for free, yet things haven’t changed for me and I am still leading the life I used to before you took office.”
Let no one wrongly think that I don’t know this or I am not aware that such situations cause people feel upset, but it is clear that, just like it happens in a construction site, the work will go on. There is no time to rest; there is no time to rethink “what about going back to where we were.” Projects are solid. The path we have embarked on is solid and the work has simply to go on.
Of course it is easier said than done and what we really need to discuss is how the work should go on and explain why a certain number of things that people ask for, and rightly so, have yet to be done, although they wrongly claim “we do not need promenades, because promenades are not edible.”
All the Urban Renaissance promenades mean stronger economy.
The Urban Renaissance is not an aesthetic project.
The new waterfront promenade, construction of which is scheduled to complete ahead of the upcoming tourist season in Saranda, is not merely an aesthetic transformation of the city’s entire coastline, but it is a tool for economic growth and wealth creation. The figures speak for themselves if we are to look at the data on local economy of the territories where urban renaissance projects have been implemented.
If you are to take a look at the turnover generated by businesses and tradesmen who make use of the waterfront promenade assets in Vlora as opposed to the turnover they used to generate just few years ago, before the waterfront promenade was built, no comparison could be drawn.
If you are to look at the house and property prices in all transformed territories, no comparison can be drawn.
Such rejuvenation and rebirth projects have enhanced value of the properties. The esplanade, which is set to complete soon, will significantly enhance the price of all properties. All those seeking to build or purchase an apartment in Saranda, of course, starting with the properties adjacent to the waterfront promenade, their property value will significantly increase.
– The town of Ksamil needs to see the value of the public spaces enhance, it needs investments. Despite our efforts, we find it impossible for us to become sustainable without the investments support. Ksamil needs your attention and we want to know when such an attention will be shifted to Ksmamil, the representative of the Youth Association of Tourism asked, and the Prime Minister answered as following:
I would urge you all to set sights on the future. What we have accomplished during this phase has been an attempt to gradually implement priority projects through a much broader vision then simply the offer of a single city or town located in this entire area. What is actually happening in the Upper Laberi area should not be seen merely as an infrastructure development drive for the villages in that area alone, as the new infrastructure will also serve Ksamil, Saranda, Vlora and Gjirokastre, Përmet and Libohove, even Korça and Erseka.
Our challenge is how to enhance content and improve quality of the tourism offer, providing visitors a reason to stay longer. With the Upper Laberi infrastructure built and with the new connection with Tepelena and further down with Gusmar, Kuç and Himare, Qeparo and Borsh the drive time will be cut to 40 minutes only. Likewise, with the Kardhiq road, where construction work is in full swing, the tourism offer will expand further. A visitor can enjoy the sun at the seaside during the day and set out to visit the mountainous areas during the night time.
In addition to that, these road infrastructure works represent transition to a whole new stage of the commercial and trade ties among all these hotels and restaurants that can be supplied with locally grown organic produce of farmers from that area, who have long-dreamed to have access to infrastructure and national roads so that they can transport their products to markets in bigger residential areas and cities. Farmers are now offered the opportunity and the incentives to work harder and increase their production, the tourism offer will explode in the decade we are in and the profits from these products will be fantastically high.
What will be happening with the waterfront promenade in Saranda, will also take place in Ksamil, as the coastal town is part of the same package of investments. Indeed, the funding has been already secured and work is scheduled to kick off soon. The waterfront promenade project was actually launched three years ago, when the funding was negotiated as part of the four special tourist destinations programme, in which we included Saranda too, with the World Bank support. The programme will have an impact on Ksamil too.
There are two elements regarding the tourism offer promotion. The first element is that tourism offer promotion, which should be carried out by the municipal structures and the local government authorities by hiring young people, who are ready to provide a contribution, and by financially supporting such an initiative. Second, we have entered a very interesting, but delicate phase of the higher education. What is happening today is that we are facing a staggering number of demands to enhance programs. When you read all those request what you think is to whose avail is enhancing the number of programs, except the universities drive to grow their revenues by increasing the number of their students. It is actually quite difficult to come across a single positive effect of such demand, except a temporary effect, but one can easily realize its negative effects in the medium term, once these young people, who would enrol in a university with a broader curricula, will turn out to be doomed, just like many other students who turned out to be the victims of the universities’ open-door policy few years ago and when private universities used to issue useless diploma to the people, who can now say: “I am a graduate of the university, but I can’t find a job.”
We have granted considerable autonomy to the universities under the higher education reform. However, autonomy doesn’t mean only freedom, but also responsibility. To whose avail is the Gjirokaster University, but the team of lecturers who receive the tariffs, and is now facing a drastic fall in the number of students enrolling that university?
The number of enrolling students is falling for a simple reason, because students won’t be able to find a job after they graduate. Then the university officials should think about ways how to become more attractive to students and what curricula to introduce so that they can meet the labor market demand. This is a dialogue that should take place. We are developing a pilot project with Korça University under Albania 2030 platform. We will introduce a specific IT curricula, robotics and computer programming to equip students with a special tool and skills. Promotion of tourism and elements that would enrich and make the tourism offer more attractive is also linked to this component, envisaging introduction of new know-how and skills in the digital world.
-Replying to the question by a representative of transport operators on construction of a bus terminal and acceleration of the work to construct Skerfice tunnel, PM Rama said:
Korca Municipality has built a modern bus terminal that meets highest contemporary and European standards and project was developed in collaboration with local entrepreneurs. There are several ways to do it, but I believe that every municipality, including the municipality of Saranda, can afford building a bus terminal on its own or in collaboration with business community, or through the support of the Albanian Development Fund. All it takes is that local government authorities should prepare the design and attach high priority to the project. I am convinced that the funding can be provided as it is about a considerable investment, but not that big so that it is impossible to be implemented. Perhaps the Saranda Mayor is already working on this project, but I think it is absolutely not difficult to build a decent bus terminal. I fully agree that Saranda, more than anyone else, needs a bus terminal, given the high number of visitors to the tourist city.
As far as the tunnel construction is concerned, the work along entire stretch of Kardhiq road is underway and construction work has progressed at a satisfactory rate on all sections of the road. You have been waiting for so long for that road to be constructed and it has been a constant campaign promise. We have taken it very seriously and work is in full swing. We will definitely complete that road infrastructure work on schedule, as it is really a strategic infrastructure project, not only for Saranda, but also for this fantastic perimeter of this little known part of Albania. By this I mean the entire internal areas between the renowned tourist destinations, including Saranda, Gjirokastra, and Vlora and these projects are designed to transform this entire area into a natural thematic park, which will become incredibly attractive through development of agritourism, guesthouses, and activities that would attract young people to join and become part of such transforming processes.
–Speaking about the government policies designed to bring young people back home and their employment, PM Rama said:
I am not like the ones who raise the outcry that Albanians choose not only to stay and live here, but also travel to other destinations to challenge themselves, accomplish a goal quickly and earn more than what they would be earning if working here. Albanians have always emigrated, except the communist era when they were isolated in Enver Hoxha’s bunker. Albanians emigrated in the early’90s, they keep emigrating and will continue to do so and they will also keep returning back home again. Trends are historic ones. At the end of the day, I understand very well a young man from the countryside, who thinks” I have no time to wait as I cannot wait 10 or 20 years for Albania to develop so that the country can offer me what another country could offer me now, so I’m leaving.” I understand them very well. And there is no political party, or a Prime Minister that could stop or put an end to this trend.
In the meantime, many Albanians are now returning back home. Agritourism and revitalization of private family homes could turn out to be a very lucrative business activity for the returnees to invest their savings and earn a lot more than what they would earn if working abroad. Investing in this kind of business would definitely turn out to be a success story for everyone deciding to come back home. The state can’t be the answer to employment in terms of finding everyone a government job. The state should actually create more room and more opportunities for everyone. If we are to consider the support projects on the country’s agriculture sector and agritourism they have all resulted into successful projects. Albania today ranks first for its capacities to absorb the EU funds earmarked for agricultural and rural development, thanks either to the restructuring process the entire system has undergone or thanks to all these people who return back home and don’t idly sit to wait for the government to do everything.
Private sector will become main source of job creation and employment. The state doesn’t create jobs in the sense it doesn’t creates new government jobs. Of course, our efforts are consistently underway to build a reliable administration, an administration capable of best delivering public services and not an administration independent from influence and links with political parties. We have accomplished a lot in this aspect, yet I am fully aware that a lot remain to be done and it will certainly take time.
We plan to build a new tourist port in Saranda, an investment worth several hundred million of euros, which would not only create new jobs, but it would also require skilled and qualified workers, as well as a port management personnel, creating employment opportunities for many young people. We need to develop more capacities and human resources so that the tourism and hospitality industry is taken to a whole new level. Improving service quality is a challenge.
-The representative of tourism industry, also the head of the Association of Tourism Industry in Saranda, highlighted the importance of expanding the existing Saranda port by at least 200 meters, and called for removal of the excise duty on tourist vessels and ships. He also called for greater attention to the 40 Saints Church, saying Saranda is identified with this religious site.
PM Rama: I am fully aware of what has not been done and how much remains to be done, as I know the territory very well. There are two things we need to do and we will do them; first, the tourist port, a project with a potential to completely transform Saranda from what it is today, as it is a multimillion euros investment with a significant impact on local economy. On the other hand, I hope that, finally, we have winner for the Vlora international airport. The Saranda airport will be an international one, but a smaller and a tourist airport, which will be an added value to the city and its economy.
As for the excise duty on the tourist vessels, we can’t exceed the limit of our opportunities and we can’t do things that others do not even think about. We have offered a lot of fiscal incentives. We are the only country in the region, where the profit tax on small business has been scrapped. Most recently we cut excise tax, the circulation tax, environmental tax and the government has decided to provide excise-free oil to farmers and fishermen.
As to the excise tax on tourist vessels, cruise ships etc, this is something I can’t provide a definitive answer about it today. I am not going to ask the Finance Minister as I know her answer already, but we will explore this opportunity. However, I see no room for such a move right now.
In the meantime, we have also discussed plans to build an Archaeological Museum for the growing number of visitors to Saranda and the former maternity hospital building is a very beautiful structure in terms of its architecture and an ideal place to host an archaeological museum that would serve as a kind of an antechamber for the visitors before they go on to visit Butrint. I fully agree that the church you mentioned should be transformed into a very strong asset and important destination as part of the package of tourism offer.
– Asked about the issue concerning the maritime borders between Albania and Greece and the relations with the neighbouring country regarding extension of the territorial waters from six to 12 nautical miles, the Premier answered:
PM Rama: There is nothing like this in the decisions made by Greece and I am saying this because Greece’s decisions, which have been extensively misinterpreted here, have nothing to do with the issue of maritime borders between us and Greece for a very simple reason, because the area is not large enough for anyone to extend territorial waters by 12 nautical miles. For Greece to extend it territorial waters by 12 nautical miles it should place its border in Memaliaj and entire blue economy, or sea-based economy be moved to Virua. I don’t know how many times I should reiterate it, but it is impossible neither for Albania, nor for Greece to extend their territorial waters by 12 nautical miles. If Greece were to extend its maritime border by 12 miles then we here would be gathering in the territory of Greece.
I would like to clarify once again. Each country is entitled to the 12-nautical mile extension right. Greece has exerted its right. The Ionian Sea doesn’t begin in Butrint. A considerable part of the Ionian Sea lies on the other side, where Greece has enough space to extend its territorial waters with Italy, precisely to the area the two countries agreed about to set as the maritime border. The international convention stipulates it clearly. It is a right a country can exert where this is physically possible. No country can exert this right arbitrary. No country can do so if this is physically impossible. Albania has used its right to extend its territorial waters by six nautical miles in 1990 and where such a right cannot be exerted because of the lack of space, and then a deal should be reached. But we will refer the case to the court,, because no agreement has been reached, precisely because there is not enough space to exert this right and the idea that the sea can be sold secretly is a completely absurd idea. But it is regrettable that many people take this absurdity for granted.
–To the question about the issues concerning the Greek minority and what actions the government plans to address the Greek minority problems, Prime Minister Rama said:
PM Edi Rama: I believe that ethnic minorities are primarily a tremendous asset and a great blessing to a country. Greek minority is unquestionably one of the minorities with the most inherent and substantial presence and it is an embodiment of the long-time ties between the two nations and countries. The citizens of this country, both by law and tradition, enjoy and should enjoy equal rights and this is the way I always have seen the minorities, no matter who they are. As far as Albania’s Greek minority is concerned, I believe there is no other political force or other government that has done more than this government has done for the Greek minority.
Let’s now focus on the legalization process of the properties, i.e. the informal buildings. The legalization process was never conducted before, but we did it and you are witnesses that you and many families have already been issued the property ownership certificates. This is also the case with the land ownership issue, an inherited problem over the years. I have been always unhappy with a series of statements issued by officials on the other side, who claimed that these issues were left unsolved and pending because of the ethnic minorities. No, Albanians in this area too have gone through the very same problem. They have been through the same kind of suffering, and it was not that the Albanians were given back properties and the Greek minorities not.
As far as education is concerned, we have established an education office right at the heart of the Greek minority and we are really interested in making sure that Greek minority children are provided all the required conditions for them to learn and be taught in their mother tongue. This is a wealth, not a problem. Of course, Greek minority is closely linked with the Greek Orthodox Church and is also connected with the religious sites. Who did issue the property titles to the churches and mosques in Albania? The religious communities are today the owners of the mosques, churches and tekkes. They weren’t owners of their religious sites until lately. They weren’t issued the due property title certificates and there was someone – I don’t want to name him – who sought to take the church in Elbasan.
– During the conversation, a representative of a tour and travel operator asked Prime Minister about the government investment projects on construction of the tourist airport in Saranda and the four tourist ports due to be built in Albania. She asked the government head whether these projects will merely remain 3D designs as they could be electoral campaign promises.
PM Rama: The Saranda port project is about to kick off as all procedures have completed and the due permits have been issued. So, I reiterate, construction of the tourist port here will begin soon. First of all, the work has actually begun three years ago, as real work on a project doesn’t begin once the excavators show up on the site. The work on a project starts much earlier. Second, when a promise is made, one cannot predict events or hurdles that may arise on the process and it is absolutely not true that politicians make promises in order to drum up support and gain votes. There are promises you make, but many problems emerge in the process. It is true the work on the Saranda airport project has yet to begin, as we should start work on Vlora international airport first, and this is a matter of strategy that has also to do with the credibility of the offer you bid in order to attract potential investors. The tender procedures for construction of Vlora airport were launched in 2019, but the process was suspended in early 2020, as the interested companies sought for the process to be postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic took a heavy toll on the industry in question and therefore the process was delayed consistently. The process reopened again and the procedure has finally concluded with two bidders competing for the project, and of course one of them will be announced as winner for construction of Vlora international airport. Once the winner is announced, we will breathe freely and work will begin immediately to prepare for the procedures for construction of Saranda airport. As soon as the contract on Vlora airport is signed, we will be ready to launch tender procedures for construction of Saranda airport. This is because people often take for granted the relation between the promise and the time, plus, we have made our promises on the assumption that our time won’t be restricted to one term in office only. Perhaps we should have been more specific on this issue, but it is very difficult that honouring the promises can be smooth as many components come into play.
