Quake-affected residents in the municipal unit No. 6 in the coastal city of Durres are gradually moving into their newly-built homes under the ongoing reconstruction programme launched by the Albanian government in the wake of the devastating earthquake that hit the country on November 26, 2019.
In the meantime, construction of 450 more new houses is underway and more quake-affected families will move into their homes after their old dwellings were either destroyed or severely damaged by the devastating earthquake.
“A total of 755 houses will be built in the city. Work to construct many of them is nearing completion. Meanwhile, 450 more single-family homes are being rebuilt in the municipal units and rural areas. Ishem and Manze are the two worst-hit areas,” Durres Mayor Emiriana Sako said, as she and Prime Minister Edi Rama welcomed a number of families that moved into the new houses.
The first new home to open its doors in Durres was the one of a family of four, who, after receiving the keys from PM Rama, expressed gratitude for the excellent work to rebuild their house in two months only. “Work to construct this house kicked off on November 4 and everything completed in two months’ time,” Mayor Sako said, adding that construction work is about to begin in the administrative unit of Ishem in the coming days. “The non-profit organization Albanian Roots, headed by Marin Mema, will construct a number of new houses in this area and the site preparation work is set to begin next week with the removal of the solid waste. We have hired a company that will carry out the site preparation work. The New York-based foundation will construct a total of 44 single-family homes,” Sako said.
The next new house belongs to a lady, who lives alone, and was sheltered by her neighbours for several months. Opening the door of the new house, she said she was very happy to move into a new and comfortable house.
The State Minister for Reconstruction Arben Ahmetaj informed that construction of a total of 50 houses is impossible due to geological causes. “We need to speed up the process so that all these families receive full compensation grant to cover construction cost for a new house,” Ahmetaj said.
