Prime Minister Edi Rama’s remarks at ceremony marking beginning of works to construct new water supply system in the village of Rrajce, Municipality of Librazhd:

Thank you very much Mrs Ambassador and other friends attending this ceremony!

Thank you each and every one of you for attending!

I am sorry for the absence of the Mayor of Librazhd at this event, but her absence’s reason is joyous. I wish a long happy life to Mayor Miranda’s newborn! I believe and I am confident we will provide Miranda all the needed properties so that she focuses a lot more to take care of her baby after the June 30 local elections.

I am most pleased to be here in an area, where long ago we have reiterated a 30-year-long promise of all of those who came here just to collect the votes, but, unlike the others, we have come back here to kick off work.

I am also very glad that all good and honest local residents of this area, wise and hard-working people who are distinguished for regularly paying the electricity bills. This whole area, including Perrenjas, Librazhd, is home to some of the most correct residents in terms of paying the electricity bills and a year later from today they will have 24-hour water supply and availability up to the German standards. This does not mean that a year later we will rank second after Germany in terms of water supply and quality, but it means that such a big problem and such a tedious story for all of you, and for women, grandmothers, mothers in particular is finally tackled.

In this context, I believe it is worthwhile to say something more and reiterate what the ambassador already said – yhe Ambassador is really a well-wisher and willing to personally engage and the number of construction sites we have inspected together with the German Ambassador is higher than the sites  I have visited along with all other Ambassadors combined since when I took over as Prime Minister – it is important not just to invest, but also to continue to deepen and improve the water reform results.

It is obviously clear that the better the service is delivered, the more are the citizens willing to pay regularly for these services. But, on the other hand, if consumers decline to pay, then it becomes more and more difficult for us to improve services. Services can improve through investments and the latter are implemented through funding, especially now when we have set a standard of allocating funding for investments in the areas where local consumers are correct ones and fully deserve further improvement of the service standards, and not in the areas where the locals are unwilling to pay for the public services.

The truth is – as the power sector reform showed – that the matter of paying the bills is not a matter of poor and wealthy people, but a matter of citizenship and respect for the law. This area is not a rich one, yet local residents pay regularly. The fact that the regular electricity bill payers, even when half of the population didn’t take the trouble to pay for the electricity, were retired people, disabled individuals, who represent the society’s most vulnerable category in terms of income, clearly shows that this is just a matter of citizenship, a matter of respect for the law and conscience, because we can’t live better by stealing each other, but, quite the contrary, by each doing their share and by contributing.

A good progress has been made in meeting the reform standards, which allows us to gain credibility with the international donors and this reliability is worthy whenever we ask for more support. It is not a coincidence that the German government, through KfW, supports this reform, not merely through the Ambassador’s remarks, but through projects, funding and concrete commitment to move ahead.

The government has included Rrajce in the 100 Villages programme to have their infrastructure upgraded and a new water supply system will be constructed. This is not the only investment planned here. We will invest in building new school, road infrastructure as this area has tremendous potential for agri-tourism development. It is the case to reiterate that whoever owns a private home to offer hospitality to others in his small farm and is not provided the opportunities to involve in intensive farming and exporting agricultural products should see agri-tourism as a way out of the poverty.

Agri-tourism means investing in your own home to create and enhance hospitality capacities for people coming overnight, two nights to taste you locally-grown produce, visit the area’s tourist attractions, cultural and historical heritage sites and natural beauties. So you no longer need to carry 20 kg of tomatoes, or 15 kg of onions and sell them on the street, but you can earn your living by offering hospitality to visitors, either from Tirana, Durres and elsewhere or foreign tourists.

This is the model of the 100 Villages Programme, mainly designed to promote agri-tourism. We have made considerable funding and grants available to this programme in order to support construction of a guesthouse, or a larger agri-tourism enterprise. The programme also offers an opportunity to those currently living and working abroad to invest their savings back home in the countryside to build a guesthouse or agri-tourism start-up in order to earn a lot more than they do while working abroad, without having to return back home instantly, but by cooperating with the rest of family members, friends and neighbours.

The funding to support agri-tourism development is set to increase. They are funds made available by the Albanian government through the Agricultural and Rural Development Agency (ARDA), and a significant funding has been earmarked by the European Union under its Agricultural Fund for Rural Development, which we have already adhered to after having obtained certification through ARDA. It takes just reliable applications and convincing projects in order to obtain due funding. The funding is not a bank loan, but grant, or cash money that is provided to support such projects on building guesthouses, and other agri-tourism and accommodation facilities in the countryside.

Thank you very much for your hospitality!

I would like to once again express my appreciation to our friends accompanying us today, namely the high-level representative from the German government-owned Development Bank KfW, German Ambassador, and the company that has been awarded the contract to carry out the construction works, a company with a long experience of cooperation with KfW in building water supply systems in Albania. I am confident the company will respect the construction deadlines and a year later from today, we will be here together with the new Mayor of Prrenjas to inaugurate the water supply system that will provide 24-hour potable water in your households and in every house of this area’s residents.