Speech of Prime Minister Edi Rama during the distribution of legalization certificates in Zharrëz:

Today, the long waiting of all of you in this room and of those who couldn’t enter it to obtain the legalization permit is over. We have decided to take advantage of this moment to not delay any further a process for everybody else, whether they are socialists, democrats or don’t belong to any party. We have proved since the first day, and will continue to prove every day that in the legalization process, just like in any other process which the Albanian government leads and is in charge of, we don’t make any difference between “ours” and “theirs”. All Albanians living and residing in this country have equal rights and deserve to be treated equally.

I am very sorry that even here in this area, the previous government issued only 234 permits in eight years, and the worst thing is that of all these 234 permits, the majority was not for homes but for business activities, just like the majority of the 21 thousand legalization permits given in total by the Democratic Party in eight years. Whereas, it took us only one year of intensive work with legalizations to issue 42 thousand permits to date, the majority of which, not to say 100% of them, are for homes.

Everybody can see the difference. I am glad also for another thing, for which one should feel bad actually, but I want to say it frankly. I am very glad that the Democratic Party, the old government-is discrediting itself every day, by treating Albanians as if they were stupid or sheep. As they talk about legalizations that are not being made, 42 thousand families have obtained them to date, and the step by step are being issued the titles by the real estate registry. There are tens of thousands of others who will continue to obtain them this year, including all of you here.

They say also that the free basic check-up is a corruption and a farce, whereas tens of thousands of Albanians are benefiting from it every month, and these people have eyes and ears, and regardless of who they vote, they can tell the difference. Even those who are not with the party leading the government today, they also can tell the difference. The same we can say for everything else.

The truth is that of the 234 permits issued by the previous government, 190 have been returned because their maps have resulted to overlap in the Property Registration Office. So, we are doing them as well from scratch, and we will solve the problem of all those whom the previous government, the Democratic Party, issued worthless titles.

Today, we are here in Zharrëz, a very important former commune, and neither here in Zharrës nor in Ruzhdie – in the famous Ruzhdie where they have obtained the votes whenever they wanted and in the ways they wanted – they have issued any legalization permit. Zero! They would take the votes in Ruzhdie, but would not deliver any service there, just like they acted in Bathore and in all other areas about which they used to say: We’ve got them, but if we give them the legalization permits, if we pave their roads, if we provide them the lighting system, they will become big-headed, so we’d rather leave them in the worst conditions ever so we’ll have them in the air along with their two fingers.

Actually, there you have the results of a one and a half year work done by ALUIZNI. Today in Zharrëz, from zero to eight years, 500 permits will be handed over to all those who have been waiting for years, and these are the first permits issued in the history of this legalization process since 2005. Just as the directorate of ALUIZNI – and I want to congratulate everybody who is here, the director and the staff, who have been a role model here in Fier – has identified 3100 entities, in addition to these 500, for which legalization permits will be issued.

We have also committed that you will not have any more to go to the real estate registry and submit an application, but ALUIZNI will do it for you, and in addition to the legalization permit you will be delivered the ownership title. The process is to start soon, and the Director of ALUIZNI, Artan Lame has drafted a very clear plan supported by the government. By this, we want to avoid the delays in the real estate registry, the same “come back tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow, or at the end of the week, and eventually bring a hen along, or a rooster would be better” stories, and you know how the story goes, for it will continue for as long as we have a thorough modernised real estate registry, have it thoroughly digitalized, and eliminate every history of personal favours.

Nationwide, Fier is today in the first place for this process. If Fieri is today in first place, and is certainly one of the largest counties which despite its major issued, has been receiving many demands, this is due to the Directorate of ALUIZNI in Fier, whose staff has been performing an admirable job with honesty, professionalism and civic engagement. I want to thank them. I here often people say that this is their job, and it is indeed, but they deserve to be thanked for, because not everyone does his or her job like they are doing. So, thanks to all of you.

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The legalization process is going on at a quick pace throughout the country. 500 residents of Zharrëz in Fier benefited today the permits for their homes. Despite hundreds of applications submitted by residents, no legalization permit was issued in this area in the years 2005-2013.

The legalization of these apartments was carried out after an intensive 18-month work, during which ALUZNI experts worked continuously on the ground, doing measurements and preparing the relevant files. Thanks to this intensive work 1500 constructions entered the legalization process.

“The government is at the core of this cooperation, because it carries out the coordination between institutions in order to avoid problems and discrepancies”, Director General of ALUZNI Artan Lame said.

Obtaining the legalization permit means a long ordeal of comings and goings for many of the residents who have to go from one office to another, not to mention the countless costs. One of them, Rrap Penelli said that “we have waited for so long, that we forgot when applied for the first time.”

“Imagine where we would be today, if all of these were done ten years ago”, Prime Minister Rama replied. “You wouldn’t have to deal with issue of the house, but it would be a collateral to obtain a loan. We opened this year the guarantee fund for the village, which will have available loans with very low interest rates that can be used by you to invest in land, farm, agriculture, and this is a great help. This is the essence of this process, and this is the greatest support to the economy provided by the legalization process.”

Another resident, Taip Dervishaj said that he has always voted for the Democratic Party, but it is the left-wing government who made legalizations a reality. “I applied ten years ago. My party didn’t give me the legalization permit. It was you who kept the promise”, the resident told to the Prime Minister. “They can blame us for not doing things well, but no one can accuse us for dividing people into left and right. All are equal to us” – the Minister of Social Welfare, Blendi Klosi commented.

More than 42 thousand legalization permits have been delivered across the country in just two years, 8 thousand of which only in the district of Fier, while the process continues without interruption. Legalizations were also one of the main commitments of the previous government, but only 21 thousand entities were legalized in eight years across the country, and the vast majority of these buildings were not homes, but cafeterias and other business premises.

The meeting in Zharrëz was attended by the MP of Fier, Gramoz Ruci, and representatives of local government