The nine – year school “Njazi Mastori” and the pre-school education facility bearing the same name in the town of Sukth, Durres district, are the most recent sites to host the reconstruction of the buildings from scratch. The educational institution, built in 1963, was severely damaged by the powerful earthquake that hit the area last November. A well-designed project will be converted into a model educational facility, featuring modern infrastructure, which will be built through state budget funds.

Prime Minister Edi Rama inspected the most recently launched work on a site with a surface of 5725 square meters where a new school and kindergarten will be built. According to the construction schedule, the new school will open doors to over 970 students on November 26, the one year anniversary of the devastating earthquake.
The Mayor of Durres Ermijona Sako said that the old school building had collapsed and a three-storey structure with 27 classrooms and eight labs will be built on the site of the old structure, as well as a gym, outdoor sports grounds, and a polyvalent room turning this school into a community center, including also green spaces that didn’t exist before.

“The existing school was built in 1963. The Construction Institute decided that the old building had to be demolished due to the severe structure damages. The old school was demolished in April. The new project envisions construction of a three-storey building, featuring also a gym and a polyvalent room. The new school will house 27 classrooms and 8 laboratories, as well as other premises for the pedagogical personnel. As you see, project has started with the groundwork. A yellow wall marks the border of the school. Outdoor sports grounds will be built to host sports events. The school is projected to also host community and social events. The construction process is scheduled to complete as soon as possible,” she said.

Prime Minister Edi Rama said that the new school should open doors to students on June 26.  “We will open the school on Nov 26,” the Premier stated.

The new nine-year school “Njazi Mastori” will meet the required standards of a community standard. The Head of the Albanian Development Fund Dritan Agolli said: “Most importantly, this school will also feature a polyvalent hall for the public to apply school as a community center concept and this polyvalent hall can always be accessed by the community after the teaching hours.”

PM Rama went over the project details, part of which is also the pre-education institution, as well as spacious sports grounds. “This is the kindergarten building which will be a separate facility. This is the kindergarten’s entrance and the pre-education children will be housed in a more protected part of the school complex. This is where the gym will be constructed and outdoor sports grounds,” ADF Director Dritan Agolli explained.

A total of 12 children with special abilities are enrolled in this school and, according to Durres Mayor Ermijona Sako, the new education infrastructure meets all requirements, including an elevator, emergency exits and other special school premises.

Durres Mayor also noted that four educational facilities will be built in Sukth under the reconstruction program, including the primary school “Shkolla e Perlatit”, and two high school buildings, due to be constructed by UNDP.

In terms of educational facilities, the Reconstruction Minister Arben Ahmetaj informed PM Rama: “Two more contracts on infrastructure projects will be signed next week. As of today, contracts on the infrastructure in the towns of Kavaje and Fushe-Kruje have been already signed. Relevant contracts will be concluded about infrastructure and construction works in the villages of Thumane and Bubq next week and work is expected to begin very soon. The expropriation process has advanced.”

In the meantime, ADF Director Dritan Agolli said: “In terms of educational facilities, 20 contracts were concluded about 33 facilities and 5 others are in the pipeline, completing the package for 38 educational facilities funded by the state budget. We will also soon complete the designs and the relevant contracts for the construction of the remaining five buildings.”

Dozens of school buildings will undergo reconstruction projects, about which the Minister for Reconstruction said: “We have two more sets, one with the municipality of Tirana for 18 schools, 9 of which to be built through state budget funds, the rest belong to the package of European Commission that will be implemented by UNDP. UNDP has taken over the construction of an initial group of 22 school buildings, with the procurement procedures already underway. We have also handed over the final list, excluding all projects that will be developed through state budget funds. They are expected to earmark around 50 million euros in funding for construction of around 40 schools, including 15 schools whose reconstruction is already underway. So a total of 65 million euros will be used to support construction of schools and 50 million euros for the cultural heritage sites.”

The Minister informed that ADF and the Municipality of Tirana are slated to open the second phase of bidding for individual homes next week. “ADF and Tirana Municipality are set to launch second phase of the tender for construction of individual homes, which means that should the process goes well and, I believe, it will go very well, in 7-8 days’ time, the contracts on individual units will conclude,” he said.

 As for the process of delivering the reconstruction grants, Ahmetaj said that quake-affected families in the Municipality of Durres alone will benefit grants under a total amount of 24 to 26 million dollars provided by the government.

Durres Mayor Ermijona Sako said the process is heading towards completion:  “I am confident that we will forward the request this week. The last verifications are being made with the immovable property registration office and the request for grants will be forwarded next week.”