Light and hope are filling the brand new homes of 244 quake-affected families in the town of Fushe-Kruje. The Reconstruction Programme is challenging the devastation left in wake of the earthquake two years ago, as thousands of families are already moving into stronger, safer and more beautiful homes than the ones they lost.
Fushe-Kruje is one of the hardest-hit areas by the natural disaster, but which has been totally transformed now. The new residential complex, featuring both single-family homes and multi-family apartment buildings among green and recreational spaces for every child to play, is the year-end postcard this city offers.
Prime Minister Edi Rama attended the ceremony of handing over the new houses to the affected families in Fushe-Kruje.
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Good evening everyone! There are so many things I’d like to say, but I’ll try to keep it short, because not only have you been waiting for two years for these days, but also because the wind blowing now is not really moderate.
First of all, I would like to underline that these are moments, urging you to kindly pardon everything, not the hardship, but everything you have been encountering when you have the honour to serve in this office. I mean the whole mud, accusations and speculations that accompany you every day in this process too.
I am very proud that we have so far succeeded in our efforts to stand by more than 50,000 families, ranging from those in need for a minimum assistance, but which is not really a minimum one when it comes to the Albanian state budget, to the families that are entitled to benefit new housing and will do so for free, without paying a single cent, and with the property ownership certificates granted for their new homes and apartments that meet contemporary living standards.
It is true that we have been looking into all similar post-earthquake reconstruction programmes launched in neighbouring European countries in the wake of earthquakes in order to draw lessons from those programmes, but we didn’t come across any reconstruction programme that has allowed for construction of new houses for the affected residents totally for free. This hasn’t been the case even in some of the most developed countries in the world, where they are built through public funds with the state allocating a significant contribution, yet no houses are granted for free to the affected residents. Each household has to apply for a bank loan, though a soft one.
But how could we ask a majority of these families to pay for their new homes, given the fact that the ones hit hardest were mainly poor families, precisely because they are poor and their homes were old ones? It was not possible for us to do so. You know it as you are directly affected, but we have seen new homes that haven’t sustained any damage and old homes built in the 60s or 70s were totally destroyed.
A good part of these families lost almost everything in the earthquake and could not recover on their own and we couldn’t ask them to apply for a bank loan and I am really proud that today and in the days and weeks to come, anytime a key to a new house is handed over, it clearly demonstrates the truth, which was denied for so long, that these new houses are delivered to them for free. This means you can live in them, purchase them or do whatever else you wish as any property owner would do.
When we visited this affected area for the first time, nothing was to be found in this plain area. Rumours quickly emerged suggesting that we were visiting the area to build villa homes for ourselves. In other words, I was visiting Fushe-Kruje to build a villa for myself and many other villas so that I could purchase them together with Artur (Kruja Mayor).
When the construction work kicked off, it took six months to construct the underground infrastructure of this site. This is a contemporary residential complex just like any complex in any European country, with water supply, sewerage and canalization system, and every urban infrastructure element in place, and if you are to look at pictures of this neighbourhood, you would see that a completely different and new world has been built on this site.
Countless speculations and allegations were made, but most importantly the work here and everywhere else is really rewarding and our work speaks for itself. The words are wind-blown, although we have to resist them until they are blown away by the wind. Meanwhile, one should not forget that when you commission an apartment from a private investor, you have to wait at least two years for the house to be built. On the other hand, we have been encountering a number of property-related issues to tackle and distinguish between the public and private properties. As soon as we solved the private issue, something else popped up. We have had to face all sorts of problems as a state, just like any other ordinary family faces when it comes to such issues.
As we speak, we are still unable to start construction of all apartment buildings in Laç, namely the Neighbourhood No. 2, which is a totally state-budget funded project, because a local judge has ruled to secure a lawsuit filed by an individual there, taking hostage entire neighbourhood as he refuses to allow demolition of a shop he owns to clear way to construction of the project. And he decided to continue to keep the whole process hostage.
Unfortunately, this is what has actually happened, because we had to resolve the property ownership issues first and arrange all pieces of the site, where nine apartment buildings are set to be constructed. It is a totally brand new neighbourhood and the construction work is finally underway.
However, the pandemic gripped the country shortly after the devastating earthquake, with so many projects coming to a standstill, transport grinding to a halt. We hired and employed all the architects and the potential architecture and design studios, as many as 400 Albanian construction companies, as well as foreign architects, most of them for free. This new residential complex was designed by one of the best Dutch architecture studios.
The COVID-19 pandemic delayed our construction plans. However, we made sure that no affected family remained homeless. Around 100 families still live in tents and they have decided to do so as they wanted to look after their domestic animals and cultivate their agricultural land. However, they have been all provided the rental bonus.
Some of you attending this ceremony will be given the key to your new homes, but the new houses have yet to be furnished. But where will you return tonight? You will certainly be returning to the rented homes, where you are still living in under a government-funded rental programme. I am sure that many of the participants and their family members and friends have been living and working in Italy. I would urge you all to ask them so that they can tell you how many people still live in caravans after their homes were destroyed by earthquakes 10, 12 or 15 years ago.
This doesn’t necessarily mean we are better than them. This means that we devoted and committed everything to the post-earthquake reconstruction programme. There hasn’t been a single day when I didn’t think about this, when I am not informed about progress of construction work, every brick laid on these walls, and the problems we encounter and the issues that need to be addressed, because it is an honour for us to stand by the people and see all these families, children and grandparents moving into their new homes on the New Year’s Eve, without turning their heads back and without thinking at all how would they repay the bank loan, but just think about how to start afresh and embark on a new life, being wealthier than they used to be, as they now own a property with a much higher value than the property they used to own prior the earthquake. And it is up to them to decide whether they would sell or rent them or live in them.
And it doesn’t end here as many things have yet to be done, but it is important and quite significant to realize that the expression I often use “we won’t leave you alone” it is not a slogan and I would invite anyone, let them be Socialists or Democrats, we haven’t distinguished among people on basis of their political affiliations.
The reconstruction programme has clearly shown by deeds and not words, we don’t discern among people and divide them along political lines. The new houses have been handed over by lot.
To conclude I would like to tell you that we have learned a lot from this programme. We won’t stop here. Not only will we definitely close all the earthquake scars and no family waiting for home will be left homeless, but we will also launch a national housing programme for families in need and young couples; a housing programme for young couples and many families, in order to increase the quality of life of those who are unable to buy their own homes at rising prices, especially in Tirana and other main cities.
I wholeheartedly wish you enjoy the new houses! May the New Year be as auspicious as it is beginning. Of course, there will be no new homes every year, so, as this year will not be, in this respect, but good luck as much as possible and above all, be it health for all your families, for the children, for the elderly, for the in-laws, the neighbours and the whole community!
Thank you very much!
