Prime Minister Edi Rama was again in the areas affected by flooding caused by the intense rainfall and rivers overflow in the recent days. Accompanied by Minister of Interior Samir Tahiri, the Prime Minister was at the area called Ura Vajgurore, in the district of Berat, which was also affected by flooding due to massive inflows of the rivers Osumi and Devoll. The Prime Minister was acquainted with the situation on the ground and met with local leaders and leaders of the civil emergency operations and residents of flooded homes.

The mayor of Berat Selfo Kapllani informed that currently the situation is normalized, but all emergency structures continue to be on the alert not only in areas at risk such as Ura Vajgurore, but also in the municipalities, especially in Poshnje and Perondi. He stressed that the priority was to save the people and 65 families at risk were immediately evacuated. In addition, pumping stations and roads were kept under control.

“The pumping stations have functioned normally, and they have been constantly under control and supplied with power. In addition, roads are under control since landslides have occurred in some areas, especially in the highway Korce-Berat. Road maintenance firms have been on the alert and in the five blocking points along the highway Berat-Skrapar. Circulation returned to normal in a short time.”

Director General of Civil Emergencies, Shemshi Prençi made a detailed description of the situation. According to him, even in the district of Berat, reaction has been quick and today, with the normalization of the situation, emergency structures have also started cleaning the houses.

“We informed on the situation that was to come in the entire country, but mainly in southern Albania, regions Gjirokastra, Fier, Berat, Vlora and Elbasan, since January 28. In Berat, the situation has been calm, despite the Devoll river flows and the two rivers have had a great intensity in a very short time, something tha has not happened for years and has brought the water at this level and caused the flooding. However, the structures of civil emergencies throughout the region of Berat, led by the Prefect, the Promt Reaction Battalion, police and civil emergencies services have given the maximum contribution in a record time, by evacuating 65 families in the Ura Vajgurore. The municipalities of Otllak and Poshnje were also affected by flooding but the response has been very fast. I am glad that today, all structures are cleaning for the first time private dwellings with fire services, which has never occurred in such disasters. It means that emergencies have intervened in all processes, from prevention of extreme emergency, providing food and the necessary means of subsistence, as well as cleaning of houses by state structures. This is something new in the reaction of state structures in case of emergency.”

Prime Minister Rama urged to maintain a high level of readiness, because despite the situation has calmed down, meteorological conditions are expected to worsen. The Prime Minister reiterated the appeal for residents to respond to the authorities call for evacuation in the event emergency structures shall deem it necessary. “We are proud that we have successfully tested all the structures which have responded in time. According to forecasts a second worsening of weather is expected. Therefore I urge you all to work closely with civil emergency structures, with the State Police, with everyone involved in this process, in order not to have any reluctance to evacuate in case of warning, so that we can face this dramatic situation and end it, as we have done so far.”

The prime minister defined the situation a bill of nature, for how we have treated environment in these two decades. In addition, he said that the consequences of flooding would have been much worse, if during this period drainage canals had not been cleaned, as they have never been cleaned in 20 years.

“The whole system is ruined. There is no defense system, because everybody has been exploiting the river, exploiting the woods, exploiting the stones and whatever they can exploit today without thinking about tomorrow when nature presents the bill and it does not care. We have to keep under control the entire situation and then, step by step, take measures as we have done. If we had not opened more canals compared to those opened in 20 years, we would have had today a much more extensive flooding”, the Prime Minister said and reiterated that “certainly, there is a lot to do.”

Once the emergency situation is over, a significant investment will begin in the area of Ura Vajgurore. This investment is equal to what has been invested in 20 years together”, the Prime Minister said.

 

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Prime Minister Edi Rama inspected today works in the central square of the Municipality of Lushnja. Accompanied by Mayor Fatos Tushe and Minister Tahiri, Prime Minister Rama looked at the progress of projects for the transformation of the old city center in a square with European standards. The project envisages the urban re-qualification of the center, which will harmonize the pedestrian area with shopping and business units, with the aim to revitalize the square, the green areas and to unify facades. With the completion of the project, 18,000 square meters of the central square and 1,060 meter roads, currently in bad condition, will be available to citizens.