Work is at full steam ahead at 11 construction sites in the municipality of Laç as part of the ongoing post-earthquake reconstruction programme designed to give Kurbin and all quake-hit areas a whole fresh look and a new quality of life that the north-western town has been lacking. The construction site for the new Municipality building was launched today. The new three-storey municipal office – according to Mayor Majlinda Cara – will be situated on a 4,000-square meters area, featuring the administration offices, as well as a space dedicated for the delivery of public services to the citizens.

One of the long-cherished public projects is the rehabilitation of the degraded stream ecosystem that traverses the town, a long-time unsolved problem, the work on restoration of which has advanced around 80% of it as part of the all-sided projects already underway as part of the reconstruction programme. In the meantime, the work to rehabilitate the town’s infrastructure has also advanced and work is also underway to construct the new water supply system. “A total of 11 reconstruction site have been launched in the urban area alone and with the town will take a completely fresh look once construction of the two new residential neighbourhoods and the infrastructure completes,” Mayor Cara said.

The government head said that the natural disaster has been into an opportunity “to turn Kurbin upside down and give a whole fresh look to the entire area.”

A new residential complex funded by the Albanian government is one of the reconstruction projects already underway in Kurbin, where the foundations for construction of three apartment buildings have been laid and construction of a new school is scheduled to kick off soon. In the meantime, around 40% of the planned work to rehabilitate the buildings’ facades has completed and work to repair damages to the DS1 and DS3-tagged buildings is set to start very soon. Work to construct the new regional hospital is also scheduled to start soon. Reconstruction Minister Ahmetaj also informed that the reconstruction site funded by the Turkish government will be launched in the next few days.

Mayor Cara informed that legal procedures have completed in collaboration with the National Housing Entity and 130 initial contracts will be signed soon with the families entitled to benefit new housing under the reconstruction programme in the so-called Area 1 in Laç. Contracts have also been signed with around 90% of the 218 affected families that have decided to build their homes on their own and they have applied for construction permits.