A brand new residential neighbourhood, which includes villas and collective residential buildings, a school, kindergarten, healthcare centre, public spaces and other community amenities in compliance with highest community standards, is being built at the large reconstruction sites in the town of Fushe-Kruje.
Prime Minister Edi Rama inspected the site that has been selected to host the new residential neighbourhood, which will provide housing for more than 1100 residents.
“Francine Houben is one of the most famous architects in the Netherlands and she founder of one of leading architecture and design studio in the Netherlands and Europe,” Prime Minister Edi Rama said in his remarks about the project designer as he saw the blueprint of the new residential neighbourhood.
The Minister for Reconstruction Arben Ahmetaj said that the site chosen to host the reconstruction project has been designed as a natural extension of the town of Fushe-Kruja with the road and services infrastructure in place, becoming an independent residential area which is expected to feature other community amenities, services and activities. The project entails the overall and complete planning and construction of some 100 apartment buildings and a total of 128 villa-style homes or individual private housing units as named under the model developed by the National Housing Authority. A total of 1100 local residents will benefit housing in the new neighbourhood. As you see for yourself, Mr. Prime Minister, the work to construct the related urban infrastructure is already underway. These are the very first days of the ongoing work to build urban infrastructure. The construction site covers an area of 103,000 square meters. The site is entirely located on a state-owned land and no expropriation procedures and funds were needed. When the decision was made about this site, it was actually designed to be a natural extension of the town with its access to road infrastructure and public services and, thanks to the project you referred to, this area will become a city on its own. In other words, I am confident it will be residential neighbourhood very attractive to the other part of the town and local residents to visit and join various activities here.”
Mayor of Kruje Artur Bushi noted that every aspect of the design has been thoroughly studied and defined to facilitate access and communication with the rest of the town. He also said that plans are being considered to integrate the traditional market with the new neighbourhood.
“Every aspect of the projects about the new centres of quake-hit villages of Thumane, Bubq, as well as Kruja, has been studied in an optimal way so that the new neighbourhoods are best integrated into the existing parts of the town. This is the best part of the project as it allows for a sort of natural development of the historic town and the new neighbourhood will add to the town of Fushe-Kruja in its northern side. The new neighbourhood will be located within the downtown. We are planning to include the local traditional market in the new neighbourhood so that we avoid the chaos that prevails on Sundays. This market is very important to Fushe-Kruja and the surrounding areas as you can find all sorts of products, as well as locally-grown agricultural produce,” Bushi said.
Prime Minister Rama urged a special project on the local market be incorporated into this new neighborhood, because it would enhance the capacities from the community point of view, but also from the economic point of view. “I would invite you to discuss the matter with architects so a model market in all aspects is built. It will be a special project and the market will be incorporated into this new neighborhood, because it would enhance the capacities from the community point of view, but also from the economic point of view. This is because transformation of conditions would bring about a new level of access, a higher turnover for everyone,” he said.
The Premier noted that such neighbourhoods, like the one under construction, are zones that set new example, become a turning point, from the urban point of view giving the affected areas the opportunity to be revitalized and move on to another stage and provide much better housing conditions for the quake-affected families. “All these are incredible urban nucleuses in terms of quality and in terms of the offer for the community. In addition to that, they also create new gravity for development of surrounding areas with so much chaos inherited from the past. They set out to pave the way for disciplined and sustainable development. It will be impossible after that to continue the same old story. These are areas that lead to historic turning points in terms of urban planning and offer the quake-affected areas the opportunity to be revitalized and move on to another stage. What the quake-affected families are entitled to benefit will be much more qualitative and more decent housing conditions they used to have prior to the disaster. The new neighbourhood will include a new school, a new kindergarten and everything else.”
The Minister of State for Reconstruction Arben Ahmetaj noted that the state budget will allocate funds worth 600 million dollars to support the reconstruction program. “Another important moment is that changes to the state budget will be adopted next week in compliance with the directives you issued a day ago, practically earmarking 340 million dollars or 34 billion lek in state budget funding for the rebuilding program this year and another fund worth 250 million dollars or 250 billion lek next year, totalling around 600 million dollars, plus the donor pledges and the funding process by international donors already underway, especially with the European Commission,” Ahmetaj said.
