Speech of Prime Minister Edi Rama during the distribution of ownership certificates in Paskuqan:
Hello everyone!
I remember being here one year ago, in these premises, at the very beginning of this process, and in 6 months we had to find and arrange as much files as possible we could find in that warehouse with no inventory, and which was called ALUIZNI. A warehouse with no inventory, where tens of thousands of citizens had submitted the papers of their great expectations, based also on the great promises of the previous government. They had paid cash and off the books – you know this better than me – and not only did they receive no answer, but it never occurred to anybody to knock at their doors.
On that day we distributed approximately 55 first legalizations for free, and we promised to do more.
Today, we are back here, after an enormous work done for this area by the Directorate, by the structures of this Directorate, by the girls and boys who work in this Directorate and whom you know, because we changed the operating mode of this process, as well as we promised that you would not have any longer to wait in line for an answer by ALUIZNI, but that ALUIZNI would come to your doors and take measurements and help you fill out the forms, without having to pay any money.
Basically, in the municipality of Kamez, which is today a new municipality and where Paskuqan is included, so in Kamez and Paskuqan where the problem currently lies, as Artan Lame quite rightly said, and where you did not get tired to take the vote in the wrong direction for over 20 years, they have made 155 legalizations in eight years. 155 legalizations are less than 2% of the applications that were waiting for an answer in the eight years. Most of these 155 legalizations are not at off four houses. They are for warehouses, shops, motes, they are stories of business and money, but they are not homes.
Meanwhile, from the day we starting preparing the 750 legalizations we are going to distribute today, in addition to the legalizations made during this period we have exceeded the figure of 1000 legalizations only here. Legalizations made by us in a year are ten times more compared to those made by them in eight years. Furthermore, we made them for free and saved you from chasing Mr. Shaba who was hiding nobody knows where, as we saved your pockets that you were forced to rummage every time you wanted to touch Mr. Shaba, as if he were a holy statue you were looking for but you could not find. I am mentioning Shaba because he used to be the director, but this is not a “Shaba” issue, rather a “Sala” issue where poor Shaba was part of the wrong direction.
Therefore, it is a great pleasure for us to distribute these legalizations, but we are also convinced that there is still a lot to do. It is true that we exceeded 1000 legalizations for this area, but there are still thousands of certificates that need to be distributed in order to conclude this process which became a noose around the neck of every family, which has blocked the capitals because all the money, all the savings, the fatigue and sweat of your families and of every family waiting for legalizations in informal areas were transformed in bricks, plaster, tiles and construction materials for houses.
And while houses have two or three stories, people are poor because this capital is blocked. The moment you are given the legalization permit, you are entitled to register your house in the mortgage office, and the moment you register your house in the mortgage office it becomes a circulating capital because you have a document that proves you have an asset. You can take that document to the bank and ask for a loan to start a business, to join others who live in the areas you come from and who have a small farm, to make it grow, to take part in a business, whether in agriculture or livestock, in order to help your children finish their studies and so on.
All this capital made of the blood, sweat, efforts made over the years by all those who started this battle for a better life, cannot stayed blocked any more, but it will be unblocked little by little. And as it is unblocked it will lighten the burden in your households, in addition to strengthening our domestic economy. The reason why legalizations process concerning these capitals are important to the country and to the economy, and where they do good are success stories, is precisely because they release new flows of capitals for every family, every community and for the country as well.
I believe that what we are doing will be an important founding stone for recovering the economy of all these families. Obviously, it is easier for me to talk to you, to talk to all those who have put a lot of effort in building their homes, for am I convinced that you understand me better than some others who have never get even close to work. A house takes it time and work, just as work takes it time and work. This house of ours, which is Albania, is similar to your house which you have built little by little with great effort, and in order to make it as we wish it to be, we have to put a lot of effort, to make a lot of sacrifices, just as you have done to get to the point of putting the roof, but this of course takes its time.
I can still see the camps opposite the Agrarian University, full of shacks made of plastic that served as homes of many poor families who had come from remote areas in search of a better life, and who would look at Tirana as at their own small America. Those plastic shacks started to be replaced by the first foundations, then by the first bricks, the first stories, the second stories and so on. This happened over the years as it required many years of hard work, both here and abroad where emigrants would eat once a day in order to save money and send it to their families so that they could finish their houses.
This is the story of a process which carries a powerful lesson on how we can build our common house, and to do this there is no other way but that of work, sacrifices, patience, solidarity with one another and the faith of being in the right direction.
I know very well that in this area, as in many others, problems and troubles are big, but I believe that no reasonable people, who think for themselves and see with their own eyes and hear with their own ears, instead of thinking the way the party tells them to think, or see or hear, would claim that what has been done in 18 months is less than the destruction brought over the years heading in the wrong direction.
I am convinced that everybody is aware as is every reasonable person, that poverty, unemployment, major social problems and so on were not created 18 months ago and didn’t become bigger in these 18 months. The contrary is true.
We found a house that was falling into pieces. A house that was about to enter a catastrophic darkness because of the energetic collapse, first of all. The sector was ravaged and was hemorrhaging badly. Half of the population would not pay for electricity, and stories of theft and abuse would frequently occur as in no other European country, while the other half of the population would pay for the half who didn’t pay.
Then there was the state which, using taxes paid by citizens, had to fill up every day the pit of 150 million Euros dug by theft, abuses and lack of investments. Had these 150 million Euros been spent every year for nurseries, kindergartens, schools, hospitals, roads, and so on, instead of being spent to fill up that pit, we would have today another Albania.
It is pretty clear to me that the reforms and measures we have undertaken, and the path we have opened and where we are leading in order to establish complete equality in this sector, cannot satisfy everyone. It is painful for many of you, but it is the only way, the only direction, to prevent that our children, the children of Albania, are left on the road. It is the only way to prevent Albania from being left on the road, and to have it freed as soon as possible from the big cancer that was greedily sucking the blood of our economy. This is the only way for us to focus on issues concerning the improvement of life quality.
Reforms are not feasts, concerts, football matches, wedding parties or big celebrations. Reforms are very painful operations, and measures that accompany them are bitter medicines. Is there any parent who would say “I refuse to let my child have a surgery, because I do not want him or her to feel pain”, even though the child’s life is threaten by a serious illness? There is not. A parent does not let his or her child have a surgery because they want him or her to suffer. They do it because they want him or her to be saved.
Is there any mother who would want to give her child bitter medicines instead of honey? There is not. But there is not any mother, whose child has a fever, who would say: “I’m not giving him or her medicines, because they are bitter. I am giving him or her sweets, so he or she will be happy”. Such are the reforms and the measures accompanying them. If we want to put an end to a history that has been going on for years and that has prevented us from moving to the next level of living as a country, as a community, as a family, then we must altogether not only accept, but face any necessary operation, so that what was experiences by those who lived through these times will not be experienced tomorrow by those who are the future, our children, the young people of this country.
I will not mention one by one all the reforms, but there is something I want to be very clear about.
I am quite surprised that there are people who say that the Prime Minister is threading people, communities and cities that they will remain jobless if they vote the candidate of the Democratic Party. This is not at all the case!
I owe you the truth, but it is you who chose which direction you will go. All I can say you is that if you vote, for instance in Kamez, the same candidate you have had all this time, there is nothing different you can expect. What do you expect to be different? What will he do differently and better? Where is the evidence that he can do better? There isn’t any. It will be the same old story. Trying to change a situation created by walking on the wrong path, and continuing to walk on the same path, means getting the same results.
Of course, we need partners in every municipality, we need leaders who are there to work closely with us to solve people’s issues. Can you imagine that after so many years, Paskuqan results to be for three quarters out of the map, and it occurred to nobody to registers facilities? If you look at the map today, there is nothing. So, how can do it those who didn’t do it after having had the local power for so many years?
On the other hand, mayors who ask you to vote the DP cannot do anything for you. They can do things only for the party, and the things of that party have been announced and told every day. They can be summed up in “how to bring down the government”. This is not an issue, but mayors and municipalities cannot be used to block and to tell people: “Look, we can do nothing because this is the government’s fault”. Mayors are there to work and to implement what they have promised and what you need.
I won’t stop repeating an example that explains everything. One mayor of the DP has sent me a message and told me “Mr. Prime Minister, my community has a lot of urgent problems. I need to see you as soon as possible.” I replied him, “Tomorrow in my office” and he said “Not in your office because they could see me”.
What can I do as a Prime Minister, if a mayor is afraid of being seen when he meets with me? Should I meet him secretly? Where should I meet this mayor, here at the reservoir of Boville, at night? Ok, let’s say I am meeting him here – he can’t even swim – we can stay close to the shore, in the dark, with our feet touching the ground and the water reaching our belt. What are we going to talk about? How are we going to solve issues, how will we discuss projects? This applies to him and to everybody. It doesn’t matter whether they are good fellows or not, we’re not going to discuss this. They are there to handle the party’s affairs, and according to their logic and model on what one of them should do when he becomes a mayor, the best among them is the mayor of Tirana. What has he done in 4 years? The best among them has done nothing in 4 years! He cannot say anything. Have you noticed? They say “we would have done this here, but Edi Rama shouldn’t be alive”, “If Edi Rama weren’t alive, we would do this thing over there”. Now, what are you going to vote them for? Will you vote them so that can continue saying: “You voted us, but the matter is that Edi Rama is alive. In order for us to do things, he must not be alive.” They’re blank slate. Have you ever seen a blank slate where there is no chance that something can happen? Nothing!
Many years ago Xhemal Tafaj was President of the Executive Committee. I used to be a child back then, but I remember his name because he became famous for installing some lights. He went to Cairo and saw the lights there, then he came back in Tirana and said: “I will make Tirana like Cairo”. He is remembered still to this day only for putting some lights. The late Sali Kelmendi, no matter he did good or bad, opened some stalls at the “Square Skenderbe” where people would grill meatballs and drink grappa. It doesn’t matter. He came up with this idea and he did it. And everybody will remember that we had plenty of meatballs at the time of the late Sali Kelmendi. After him Albert Brojka built some crooked buildings. At least he did something. What about this one? What has he done? And they continue saying “we would have done this and that.” What have you done, sir? Nothing, zero! If this one is the best, imagine how the others can be. Voting those means harming yourself, your home, your neighborhood and the entire city. Is any of the things I said untrue? Everything is true.
Meanwhile, the vote of June 21 is very simple. It has nothing to do with the parties. You are with the DP and you want to flaunt it? Do it, but why would you vote it on June 21? This is an easy question, and I am asking the women who are here, because usually women are more lucid than men who can be confused. The truth has been told by Çajupi, so don’t make me repeat it. Don’t act like you are the strong, as you do in the assembly, because things are different at home, behind closed doors. The question is easy. Will we vote on June 21? Yes we will. Who have we voted before? We have voted this one and this one. Why will we vote? Because we need a nursery and a kindergarten for our grandchildren and our children. And who can build us a nursery and a kindergarten? We need roads? Who will between those two make us feel confident about building roads? Tell me an answer given by “the one of the DP”. What do they have to do with nurseries, kindergartens, schools, roads? Actually, they have something to do with streets where they go for rallies. If we want rallies, the right direction of your vote is noise, propaganda, talks. If you want concrete works and if you want us to do concrete things together with you, give us the chance to have a partner in the municipality. Give the mayor the chance to be a partner of the government, and we would be very happy to have partners regardless of the party they belong to. But they are a military unit, that’s why they have their headquarters at the officers’ house. But they are officers out of uniform. Gone to pieces.
The fun things is that we distributed some certificates a few days ago, and they said: “They’re doing this for the campaign”. We have been doing this since the first day we started working, and we have never stopped. How can it be that we are doing this for the campaign? There is another funnier thing, because every time we do something they would say: “Why did they do this?” After the match with Serbia, when I said that we will build the stadium of Shkoder to welcome our neighbors for the rematch, someone told three days after: “You impostor, where is the stadium?” He didn’t have any photo of his on his Facebook account. Just a picture of Cristiano Rinaldo’s shirt. But I can imagine him, waking up in the morning, putting grease in his hair, going to daddy who gives him money, and then straight to the club to drink coffee, smoke and play the bet slip, X, 2, 2, 1, X, because for him building a stadium is something that takes only 90 minutes. Probably he lost the bet that day and picked it on me: “You impostor, why didn’t you do the stadium?”
Thank you!
***
About one year ago, when the legalization process started, when ALUIZNI still resembled to a warehouse where no inventory was made, Pakuqan received the first 55 free legalizations along with the promise of the government to do more.
Today, after almost one year, residents of Paskuqan welcomed for the second time Prime Minister Edi Rama and authorities of ALUIZNI who, in compliance with the promise made by the government, distributed another 750 free legalizations for dwellings of the area.
The permits issued today, along with those distributed in Paskuqan in the last 18 months, raise the number of legalized facilities to 1000, or 10 times more compared to the eight years of the previous government.
The permits were given by the Prime Minister himself. Residents said they were satisfied, and for most of them the nightmare of going back to the areas they came from is over.
Upon receiving the legalization permit, Liman Lita, a member of the Democratic Party, feels fully entitled to be a resident of this area where he has built his house. “I am a member of the DP. We have been told to not vote Edi Rama unless we wanted do go back to Kukes. Now I am with you, because with this legalization you made me a resident of this place. It has been a long time since I’ve applied for legalization. It was 15 years ago” – he said.
