Speech of Prime Minister Rama at the meeting of the National Council of Territory:

Good morning everyone!

In fact it was not and is not in the experience of this instance to do a meeting with communication to the public, but we considered this meeting very important because of its content. And, as we considered necessary the presence of the media to communicate directly with the public this content, which comes as a poignant need to face the inertia of a dramatic phenomenon that has accompanied Albania, all these years, that is the phenomenon of destruction of our strategic development resources, that are the territory and all natural assets.

At this meeting, we will take some decisions of special importance, separated, I think, in two parts. On one hand, the part that has to do with curbing the inertia that has characterized the decision making of many local government units, which are responsible for a disaster that nobody in the region and in Europe has done to their own country. On the other hand, the opening of several new processes within the large renewal process, by interfering in units of special importance to our economic and touristic development.

A decision is one that is regarded as a decision to harmonize local planning instruments as a result of new administrative territorial division. In fact, the Ministry of Urban Development and Territorial Planning Agency immediately addressed to the National Council of the Territory, after passing the law on the new administrative division, to address a much older problem, that is the problem created by ignorance, incompetence and corruption which has prevailed in many territories of the country, especially in the territories directly related to the sustainable economic, social, urban and touristic development. To understand that it is time for this chapter to be closed at any cost, suffice to bring to the attention, with the mind’s eye, what scenery our coastal line has and what happened to all the spaces that were green until yesterday, or cultured with hundred-year olive trees and instead of which, on the hills by the sea, the most monstrous examples of urban barbarism have been built.

Our efforts have been enormous. They would be even bigger, through instruments available to the government. We have been turned intensively to demolishing illegal constructions, but illegality produced by irresponsible signatures and seals, which in many local units of the country authorize development permit for demolition, are still a big problem. Practically, in this decision, as a National Council of the Territory, we commit primarily to start procedures for the review of local planning instruments approved by the National Council of the Territory, in order have them aligned with the function of the new administrative-territorial division, but also beyond the administrative-territorial division in order to create a culture of legal restraint and submission to everything laws have provided in the functioning of authorities, to authorize construction permits.

This brings the necessity to suspend with the authority of the National Council of Territory and in view of our national and public interest, but also of all those private interests which have been mutilated and are mutilated every day and not taken into account at all, for the most dark purposes, the implementation of all local plans approved by the National Council of Territory, until representative and executive bodies of local government will be constituted after the elections of 2015.

I do not want there to be a misunderstanding.

This is a decision that will be taken regardless of the new administrative division, in the conditions when experience shows that the inertia of the last phase of a term has brought in many territories even greater wounds. There have been hundreds of flagrant cases in which permits have been provided within the 2-3 last months, before and during the campaign by irresponsible local authorities, who have caused countless wounds. Just look at the coastline and match all those ugly constructions that we see with the authorizations issued, to understand that the bulk of that deformity has come as result of the ease of the period before and during elections.

Thirdly, issuance of new permits and detailed local planning by all the authorities of the local government will be suspended until representative and executive bodies of the local government units are constituted in the elections of 2015.

Of course we are not here to take a unilateral decision which lays the basis for the prevention of further deterioration; destruction that comes not from the irresponsible hands of those who dare to abuse with the law and territory, without permission, but from the irresponsible hands of those who give permits contrary to the law and give legal force, with their signature, to totally irresponsible interventions that have incalculable consequences in a territory like ours. Albania is only 28 thousand square kilometers; it is not 28 million square kilometers. We have the obligation to preserve and develop this territory in a responsible way, with vision and perseverance, understanding, believing and operating on a simple truth: the greatest asset of this place is beauty.

But, on the other hand, we will not stop the forces of development simply at the stroke of a pen. This decision are part of a chain of decisions taken to create opportunities to the planning authorities that throughout this period of suspension can issue development permission for exceptional cases and in function of the public, state and national interest in order to develop production activities of the country. And not to usurp what has remained in the cities torn apart with the intent to build palaces, palaces, palaces, but to pave the way to any development which directly relates to tourism, which directly relates to agriculture and livestock, which directly relates to industry, which directly relates to job creation, and not to further increase of a catastrophic stock of unsold apartments today and all day.

Practically infrastructure works, public structures, certainly interventions with emergent character and the development permits of public, state and national interests or in function of the productive economic activity in all sectors mentioned will continue to be issued as usual. And in the case of the latter, to prevent any speculation and stop this story by saying that we will make the first floor a fasson and then we have another 17 floors for apartments and then during the implementation the fasson becomes a store and the parking lot becomes a sub store. The approval in principle will be given by the National Council of the Territory as we have operated with a number of permits during this period for developments of this nature.

The next point is very important. We will promptly notify all local authorities to carefully read this decision. Because what has continually happened, that is the violation of all decisions taken in advance or of laws that define the boundaries of local authorities’ actions, will not continue any further and, if so, will be legally sanctioned by force.

The development suspension is not applied:

1. For developments authorized under development permits, issued in accordance with planning instruments that have entered into force before this decision
2. For maintenance operations

Meanwhile, the development permits that do not rely on mandatory instruments of the planning into force, should be reviewed and harmonized with planning instruments at the end of the suspension period, therefore under paragraphs 1 and 2 of the decision.

Additionally, any development permit and detailed local plan, adopted after the date this decision was taken, will be considered “null and void”, invalid and subject to the pursuit of proceedings with criminal nature.

The decision to suspend the development can be reviewed ahead of the deadline for the entire territory involved or certain parts of it, when the conditions required for its adoption cease to exist.

Of course, the Ministry of Urban Development and Tourism and the National Planning Agency will issue proceedings for the implementation of this decision. The National Agency for Territorial Planning will identify all the development permits given under paragraph 5. So, it shall inform the inspection authorities for taking appropriate measures on any event where the legal procedures are not respected. This is one side.

The other side is what we will do to pave the way to our new model of development in several other areas, as we have already started with some areas and I mean here the starting of procedures to draft five projects of a strategic nature in the context of integrated cross-cutting plans for coastal strip and the Tirana-Durres economic area.

First, the area Tirana-Durrës, as a bridge of the new metropolis of Albania.

Second, the crown of Tirana as the lung of the Albanian metropolis.

Third, regeneration of the coastline from the Cold Water to Palasa, including the Orikumi coastline and the mountain range of Llogara down to Palasa.

Fourth, Himara and the whole constellation of the surrounding settlements as a new model of urban requalification.

Fifth, the area Saranda-Ksamili as a new way of tourism development.

For the five of these projects, which will be new development models invested directly in the territory starting from the second half of next year, we will open international competitions. On the basis of international competitions, taking also into account the successful process of Vlora coastline, we will walk further. I want to assure everyone that on the basis of these models at the end of this four-year term, Albanians and foreign visitors will be able to watch the Albania that we want.

We will be able to see a quite different Albania from the one bombed, massacred, abandoned for years in our coastal line; from the one where beside the beauties of its nature stand all the unprecedented acts of the ignorance and barbarism. Without any doubt, of a very special importance in this regard, is the protection once and for all of the crown of Tirana which has been the territory where for many years a constant massacre has evolved, with no sense of sustainable development, a completely incongruent development between the needs of the enterprise to make money from the square meters and the needs of communities residing in the built square meters.

Just look at the Lake Hills or look across the lower band of the Dajti Mountain to understand what we are talking about, urban situations similar to stateless situations in African countries.

In conclusion, I wish to reiterate that we are determined to pave the way by any democratic means to a development of a different nature, a new economic and social model. We will act with the same strategy that has transformed countries at the mercy of fate, cities as Barcelona that today is a fabulous model of urban development, or countries that today are experiencing extraordinary transformation, both on the other side of Europe and in other areas of the world, according to a transformation model through interventions called acupuncture, where a developing model provides the basis for a value chain.

Without even the slightest doubt we will pursue any abuser of the territory, whether individuals or entities, who operates without construction permits thus making their contribution a massacre, or an abuser who is entitled to issuing construction permits and does not respect any law and no ethical norm in relation to this common property.

And there is no doubt that anyone who thinks that can continue to put bricks without permission and yet escape direct punishment and avoid the demolition their ugly criminal deed, will now face not only the diggers of the inspectorate, but also criminal liability. They will face not only the inspectors, but also the police.

The new law on the police includes environmental crime as part of the chain of crimes that police is dealing with. The new work protocol that is being prepared and will be in force in September for all State Police forces, imposes that every employee of the State Police has the obligation to identify and pursue on the spot any environmental crime, just as they identify and pursue on the spot any attempt for serious crimes or pursue the event of a serious crime. Criminal liability will be inevitable.

There will be no more situations in which, after a building is demolished by the Inspectorate, no one cares to clean up the area – because it is up to the abuser to clean up the area – so the debris are cleaned up by the state, and after they have been cleaned up the work start again. Instead, there will be only one way, the way towards prisons for this serious crime that has been done against Albania for 20 years and which must end once and for all.

We shall not access European Union as abusive constructors. We shall not guarantee Next Generation Albania as the Albania of unlicensed masons.

Thank you!

 

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The National Council of the Territory convened today led by Prime Minister Edi Rama and adopted several important decisions, in order to preserve the territory and its sustainable development.

The NCT approved the decision to harmonize local planning instruments as a result of the new administrative division of territory.

Also, the NCT decided to start procedures for developing five strategic projects in the context of integrated sector-based plans for the coastline and the economic zone of Tirana-Durrës.