Prime Minister Edi Rama at the weekly meeting with common citizens sharing their accounts on how through the help from the online platform Albania We Want they have tackled various personal and community problems:
Prime Minister Edi Rama: Thank you and welcome every one of you, who are invited to testify to the resolved co-governance cases thanks to interaction with the Platform.
Dorela, Co-Governance Platform coordinator: Today I will introduce the case concerning Mrs. Rovena Shehu, a teacher in the primary education school Kamez e Re with 18 years’ experience in the education system. She lodged a complaint with the Platform after the local Education Directorate in Kamez denied her the second degree level qualification she had already earned, although she is a qualification certificate holder. After examining the case and verifying the whole documentation, ordered the Education Directorate in Kamez to revoke its previous decision. Now Rovena is being treated as a specialist teacher and her salary has increased by 10%.
Mrs. Rovena Shehu: I am currently a Kamez Education Office employee. I was entitled to the job position after going through the pre-employment testing process via the portal ‘Teachers for Albania.” I ranked first at the education office I am currently working. After 10 months of work at the education office, I become subject to some bureaucratic actions as I was denied the second degree level qualification although I possess the required documentation. Fully confident, I accessed the Co-Governance Platform. It was a pretty simple procedure. I accessed the website from my personal computer and just filed my complaint and, attached to it, I forwarded the documents I thought would be helpful while my case was to be reviewed. It took just two e-mails and my problem was tackled. I would like to express my appreciation for the Co-Governance Platform, such a perfect toolkit for ensuring service delivery to the citizens. A special thank goes to the Ministry of Education too, because I have been hired via the portal “Teachers for Albania” and I appreciate the education reforms. I now work at a school in the vicinity of my house. I would like to thank the working team involved in the efforts to address my problem and wish you all continued success.
PM Edi Rama: Thank you very much Rovena for taking the trouble to come here and share your case with us. I am glad that your case has been handled and already tackled, but, above all, I am very pleased that this is an opportunity for all Albania’s teachers to listen to your testimony and if they face a bureaucratic obstacle, if they face an unfair administrative process, or a situation where they are unable to adjust an aspect of their work, it suffices to access the platform and the platform’s team would always be ready to handle and provide real time solution to your problems.
Most recently, we have conducted a national survey to gauge the public’s perception on the service delivery and the survey’s findings affirm that the public’s perception has improved. The percentage of the surveyed citizens who think that the public service delivery has improved is significantly high and incomparable to the percentage of those shared same view a year ago. The Co-Governance Platform has played a major role in this improvement, not because it simply tackles various problems, but it also exerts positive pressure on the public administration as public servants are increasingly becoming aware that nobody can joke with the citizens’ rights. Nowadays, the citizen does longer remain hopeless the door is slammed in his face, but it just takes few minutes to access the Platform and the entire government’s power will be made available to him instantly. This is literally what the co-governance stands for.
Enada, Co-Governance Platform coordinator: The case I am about to introduce today concerns a citizen from Shkodra named Edmond Çuni. In 2018, Mr. Çuni received the legalization permit and then addressed the regional Immovable Property Registration Office to register his property and receive the due property ownership certificate. During the examination of the documentation, the Shkodra Immovable Property Registration Office finds out a discrepancy between the size of the lot that the building is located on and the size of one stated on the legalization permit. For this, an interaction between the institutions was required in order to correct the data, a process that was unjustifiably procrastinated. Given the situation, the citizen decided to file the complaint with the Co-Governance Platform and he was granted the ownership certificate in ten days.
Mr. Edmond Çuni: I had the problem with the Agency for Legalization of Informal Buildings (ALUIZNI) and the Immovable Property Registration Office. I had applied for the legalization permit back in 2006 but the process dragged on for years. In 2018 I came across the Portal and I decided to file my application. I was not confident, yet I thought it costs me nothing. The ALUIZNI team arrived immediately to take the property measurements. I was then provided the legalization permit shortly after and I addressed to the Property Registration Office to carry on with the property registration procedures. The documents were sent back due to a wrong calculation made by ALUIZNI and therefore I was forced to apply again. After lodging a second complaint, the Registration Office was a bit behind schedule due to the heavy workload. Therefore, I decided to file another complaint. They provided me the property ownership certificate one week ahead of schedule. So, I am really happy and I wish you continue this way always.
PM Edi Rama: Thank you very much for travelling all the way from Shkodra just to share your account and experience with us I avail myself this opportunity to say – I remember I have reiterated this during these weekly meetings – that we have been committed to deliver on a tough yet indispensable reform to merge all property registration agencies into one. The Immovable Property Registration Office and ALUIZNI are today merged into one single agency in a most recently launched process. After 20 years, we have finally put an end to the endless trips – and lots of stress – between ALUIZNI and the Immovable Property Registration Office, costing the citizens a lot of time and wasted energies just get at a last a certificate, hampering at the same time the process of consolidating the cartography available to property registration offices, which is one of the most severe inherited wounds that needs to be healed, because it is maps that are physically broken into pieces. Unfortunately, during our first term in office we didn’t succeed in imposing a much simple decision-making, in order for the property registration office to take the ALUIZNI maps for granted, because they are updated maps drawn after a field work and discrepancies between the old maps and the new ones have created an absurd situation, incurring high costs on the citizens. We finally succeeded. A single agency is now in place and soon, in the coming weeks or months, the citizens will see for themselves that when reporting to receive a legalization permit will no longer hear the employee saying: “Here it is your legalization permit and you should now address to the property registration office in order to receive the ownership certificate.” Instead, you have applied for legalization and you will now receive the property ownership certificate. So, there are no longer two stations. The boys and girls working on this Platform’s element will also now be spared of the previous endless trips between ALUIZNI and the Immovable Property Registration Office. This is a major step towards consolidation of a process we want to automatize as soon as possible, so that no long queues are created. However, finalization of the automation process will take some time.
Ernest, Co-Governance Platform coordinator: Today I will introduce the case concerning Mrs. Valbona Gjokaj, a resident in administrative unit No.11 in Tirana, who lodged a complaint against the Ministry of Interior, or the General Directorate of the Civil Status, after finding out that her family name was wrongly written on her birth certificate. Despite her request to have the spelling mistake on the birth certificate, the document was never corrected. Upon reception of this complaint, the General Directorate of the Civil Status verified the case and coordinated work with the administrative unit 11 and corrected to mistake.
Mrs. Valbona Gjokaj: I applied for a birth certificate in seven languages, but I found out that the family name had been misspelled. I addressed to the civil status directorate and the complaint was sent to the Ministry of Interior in ten days. It took two months of meanderings through various offices, but the mistake was not corrected. Then I decided to lodge a complaint to the Co-Governance Portal and I asked for help from the Socialist Party activists in Laprake neighbourhood. It took then seven days only and I received the corrected birth certificate. Thank you very much.
PM Edi Rama: I am pleased that you have sought help from the local office opened by MP representing Laprake constituency. The MP offices have now become sort of co-governance offices and they serve every citizen. All of those who need help as they can’t access the Platform via their smart phone, or they lack a personal computer at home, should simply visit the nearest administrative unit, post office, or the Co-Governance offices that have been launched by the Socialist Party or the Socialist MPs, who serve every citizen without any distinction. It is important the fact that citizens will no longer need to meander up and down, or wait for weeks or months long in order to receive a response from a state office. As soon as the response deadline expires and no response is provided, then you should not waste a single second by meandering about, or by seeking other ways, and don’t let anyone to look at your pocket, don’t ask for help from the MP, the relatives, friends and in-laws, but just click on the shqiperiqeduam.al portal and the government will instantly side with you. When I say the government, I mean the relevant minister. The case in question has been monitored by the Minister of Interior himself, because this what co-governance is all about. The government is a tool in the citizen’s hand even when it comes to his slightest and minor problem. The case of the wrongly written family name may sound a minor thing to each of us, but imagine what a problem may ensue if this mistake is not corrected. You should correct it, otherwise you would be denied many things.
Juela, Co-Governance Platform coordinator: Today I will introduce a case handled and tackled by the Ministry of Finance and Economy and it concerns Mr. Arqile Veshi from Tirana. Mr. Veshi is a retired serviceman and he lodged a complaint with the Co-Governance Platform after being denied full pension payment due to wrong calculation. He demanded his underpaid pension payment be recalculated, by including the supplementary pension. The Ministry of Finance and Economy acted promptly to verify his pension file through the Social Insurance Institute. To learn more, I would like to invite Mr. Veshi to take the floor.
Mr. Arqile Veshi: First of all, I would like to express my appreciation to the Prime Minister for launching such an efficient structure, which deals with and tackles various problems concerning the citizens. I wish such organizational way is applied in all structures of the state system.
PM Edi Rama: It is probably one of the cases that please me most at seeing retired people, who wouldn’t have their pension underpayment problem resolved should the Co-Governance Platform was not exist. They would have continued to face the bureaucracy procedures at the Social Insurance Institute and the regional social insurance directorates, which are still far from being reformed and consolidated in their procedures after inheriting a catastrophic situation, which has already significantly improved, but still remains problematic for many people. Almost at every meeting, there is introduced a case concerning miscalculated pension payment or pensioners who require compensation pay-out for underpayments over years. Indeed, I take pleasure at seeing how fast and effectively the Platform addresses such cases concerning retired people. I beg all pensioners who are watching us now that if facing a problem with their pension payment, they should not hesitate, but access the Platform straightway by asking a nephew, or niece, children, friends, neighbours or by visiting the administrative units, the nearest post office or the co-governance offices opened by the Socialist Party. They should just file their complaint and the whole team at the Ministry of Finance and Economy and the Minister herself will commit to tackling their problems.
Dorina, Co-Governance Platform coordinator: The case I will introduce today concerns Mr. Zef Nikolli, a Lezha resident. Mr. Nikolli accessed the Co-Governance Platform to file a complaint over the Power Distribution Operator (OSHEE). He owned a private facility he rented out. Although the facility was empty, he received an electricity bill for 5 000 KWh for November only. The citizen complained to the customer care office. After repeatedly complaining and failing to solve the problem, he decided to seek the Co-Governance Platform’s help. The complaint was reviewed immediately by OSHEE and the coordinators, while the OSHEE Regional Directorate in Shkora carried out the required verification process by setting up a working team and the problem has now been solved.
Mr. Zef Nikolli: It is both a privilege and pleasure to stand in front of the country’s Prime Minister today and complain over a seemingly minor problem, which actually caused me a lot of unease. I accessed your Portal and the electricity overbilling problem was settled within 24 hours. Thank you very much!
Flavia, Co-Governance Platform coordinator: A Tirana resident, Mr. Ytbi Hajdërdhi has addressed the Co-Governance Platform on behalf of 40 families in “Reshit Çollaku” street. For around two years, this small community of residents kept complaining to the relevant structures about the state of their street, the lack of lighting and proper road signs, but failing to address their matter. Their complaint was handled together with the relevant structures at the Tirana Municipality that promptly reacted to address the situation.
Mr. Ytbi Hajdërdhi: I accessed the Co-Governance Platform with the help of the Post Office employees, together with the 40 families living in our neighborhood. The street lighting problem was solved within a week. The road has been newly built. We now expect for the residential zoned parking to be built. Secondly, I had applied for the legalization of an additional housing unit, but ALUIZNI failed to provide the legalization permit for five years long. Then I decided to access the Portal again and an ALUIZNI team knocked on my door three days later, apologizing for the long delay and 16 days later I received a call, telling me to show up at the ALUIZNI office to collect the due legalization permit. I am very pleased with the Co-Governance Platform and with you, Mr. Prime Minister.
PM Edi Rama: Thank you very much! To be correct, this is all the merit of the boys and girls working here, as well as the managers, directors and the cabinet members.
To conclude, I would like to invited the latest newcomer to the Co-Governance team, who comes from the Law Faculty along with the excellent students’ group. She graduated from Faculty of Law with a grade average point 9.34 and she is now attending the Master degree program in the university, but she represents one of the examples who covers the Master degree program costs herself. Amid a range of job positions in ministries or at the Prime Minister’s office, she decided to take up a position at the agency of the Co-Governance Platform.
Ina Veliu from the Agency for Dialogue and Co-Governance: I graduated from the Law Faculty, Tirana University and I am a Bachelor degree holder. Like any other student, my main concern after graduation was finding a job. I was informed on the portal www.punetembare.al and I decided to apply being confident that I would graduate professionally working in the area I have studied for. I applied. It was a short process that took around five minutes only. A response was sent in few days’ time. I expressed interest in taking up a specialist position at the Agency for Dialogue and Co-Governance. The reason why I picked this Agency is because I believe in the fact that we together can improve our country, the Albania we want. I am pretty sure we can succeed in doing this. This Platform helps the citizens via concrete actions and within a very short time.
PM Edi Rama: Thank you very much to everyone for taking the trouble to come here, following what you have been through, because you could well have refused to do so, but you have actually provided a valuable contribution to help that our message is conveyed to everyone.
