Implementation of the first phase of the new Durres Tourist Port project is set to begin with site clearance to prepare the selected site for construction works.  Prime Minister Edi Rama today visited the coastal city of Durres, where he also met with the Chairman of the multinational real estate development company Emaar Group, Mohamed El Alabbar, to discuss the project set to become one of the largest tourism-related industry investments.

“We are mulling designs to build a very beautiful tourist port here,” Mohamed El Alabbar said, adding that the company will commit a considerable fund to clean seawater along the new beach to be built during the project’s initial stage. “We have hired two consultants, one American and another one from Dubai, who are specifically working on the environmental aspect, with the cleaning process to include seawater too as the situation was really serious. Preparations are still ongoing, but we are trying to accelerate in the fishing area,” El Alabbar explained.

Discussing the project, Prime Minister Rama suggested some of the well-known designs of fish markets. “It will be very important to build a Barcelona-like fish market,” the Prime Minister said.

As far as infrastructure is concerned, Mohamed El Alabbar promised to be one of the most modern in the Mediterranean, with endless opportunities on offer both for citizens and in commercial terms. “The terminal will be preserved and it will be relocated in this space, where infrastructure will be built to link the port with the city and the railway. We will design the fish market here. We will add other elements and the project will be really very special. It is really going to be one of the best in the Mediterranean,” he said.

The government head then inspected the site that has been made available to host the project and the Minister of Energy and Infrastructure Belinda Balluku briefed PM Rama on the ongoing preparations for this phase of the project.

“This is the area has been picked as the site to host the first phase of the project. As you have been already notified, we have made a decision to relocate the Durres cargo port and its all services, along with the companies operating in the port, to the Porto Romano area, as the situation here was aggravated. We have been encountering problems concerning local residents in the area adjacent to the port, and we have also identified issues regarding environmental pollution, acoustic pollution, and the congested road traffic particularly caused by heavy-duty trucks at Durres entrance and exit.

After a long procedure and an in-depth survey, we have already reached an important stage of the project on construction of the new cargo port of Durres near the Porto Romano area. We are now in the stage of detailed design, which is going to be submitted by early April and then immediately start with the design conditions of all technical specifications that will give us the opportunity to launch the tender,” Balluku explained.

On his part, PM Rama noted that work is also underway on a major requalification of Durres beach project.

“In the meantime, we are working with the Durres Mayor and its team to launch the big Durres beach project designed to rehabilitate public beaches along the coast,” PM Rama said, adding that “the government has allocated a significant state budget fund to support the project.

“We are looking forward to starting the first phase of the project in 2022, hopefully by May or June, and the work will then continue after the summer tourist season. It is our ambition that along with the first phase of the port project, beach areas are also rehabilitated under a completely different urban design and materials. I am pretty sure that Durres citizens and all Albanian citizens will be really grateful for this environmental project, as it has been impossible for us to deliver on that on our own. As such, the planned beach cleaning and the beach transformation into a totally clean area is a milestone accomplishment for the coastal city, which has been for so long suffering from pollution. Nobody has ever previously thought how to tackle all these things,” PM Rama said.