Construction of the Llogara Tunnel, one of largest infrastructure projects in the country, kicked off today. Locked in a drawer over three decades, the tunnel’s construction will open up new perspectives for the economic and tourist development of the entire coastal area and will have a direct impact on the country’s mainstream economy.
Prime Minister Edi Rama’s remarks at the ceremony marking the start of the work on construction of the Llogara Tunnel:
It is very true that this day is a milestone in the chapter of major public works, as work on the ground starts today to make a decades-long dream after the regime change in the country come true, also a dream of everyone who has ever imagined a modern tourist Albania.
The project, as the Minister noted, has been locked in a drawer over the last three decades and it has been a top promise made by all of those, who have visited this area during the electoral campaigns in the last three decades, but unlike others, as it has also been the case with other major infrastructure projects, we are materializing and delivering on our pledges by making them a reality.
I have brought with myself a wonderful verse from the “Child Harold’s Pilgrimage” poem that Lord Byron wrote upon setting foot in these territories for first time in 1809. “loved Parnassus fails, though classic ground and consecrated most, to match some spots that lurk within this lowering coast.” And this is a truth that now, thanks to the chain of infrastructure projects is gradually unfolding and will increasingly unfold in front of the eyes of all Albanians and foreign travellers and visitors, because the whole hidden part extending the beach area, the territory stretching among the Laberi mountains from here to a much wider area as far as to Tepelena to connect then with the hidden gems of Permet, Gjirokaster all way to Leskovik, Kolonje and to Korça, is now being connected by a brand new and modern infrastructure that opens up fresh opportunities for tourism, development of rural areas and their local economy, as well as for development of our national economy.
The tunnel is actually part of a huge map of investment projects that are being implemented one by one, steadily creating a jewel on all this wonderful crown of Albanian nature.
The tunnel will considerable shorten the drive time, will significantly improve road safety and will provide organic link to the Orikum road, currently under construction, the Vlora bypass road, which is heading towards completion with its final touches being added currently and is set to fully complete ahead of the upcoming tourist season, and further on with the Fier bypass road, if we are to look north from here.
If we are to look south, we would see that work is underway on construction of another road segment connecting Palase with the rest of the coastal part towards Dhermi, significantly easing road traffic in an area that is experiencing considerable development in terms of the tourist offer, and further down you would see another important ongoing project, a long-promised over all these decades which is now being constructed, namely the road linking Kardhiq and Delvine that further reduces the drive time along the whole area, considerably shortening the distance between Saranda and the rest of the country and offering stunning scenery and whole areas waiting to be explored after being totally inaccessible and unknown until just few years ago. Without forgetting the Vlora River road, the segment between Kurvelesh and the Ionian coast down here, as well as the new road linking Nivice and Tepelena and further extending to Permet, which in turn is being connected through a new segment with Leskovik and Kolonje. As we speak, construction work is also underway to complete the long-awaited segment heading to Korça, aimed at providing domestic and international tourists and visitors to drive and briefly visit the whole these territories, something which was totally impossible previously, as it would take several days for any tourists to visit all these attractions.
One must not forget the other aspect, the economic one. As we speak, the value of properties and the land areas has increased immediately as tourism and agro-tourism is rapidly developing in the entire internal area, and not only along the coast. Development speaks for itself, because this whole infrastructure development has cleared the way to a very tangible perception to create a wholly new reality in terms of the area’s agricultural and livestock production, which will no longer merely help those residing in those territories to survive, while many others have abandoned these areas, since otherwise would have to simply go with producing for survival only, unable to produce in a way and quantities that would generate profits for them, build economy and a space for true entrepreneurship in this area. It is very obvious now that the new reality is not a result of dozens of years or decades of previous efforts, but a result of a work launched just a few years ago to experience natural growth of production in all these areas to serve not only to the development of beach tourism, but also tourism in remote rural areas.
A major investment by a Swedish company is slated to kick off next spring on top of Nivice, something totally unimaginable just a few years ago, as that area was full of ruins and where a small number of families were still residing in the area, totally isolated although sitting on a hidden paradise. An investment is now underway, which is a kind of an early swallow signalling a series of investment projects, which will provide an added value, designed to attract A category tourists to these hidden and unexplored areas, which means elite tourism and more revenues and income for local residents and the whole system of the added value here in Albania.
I am saying this because we often hear people complaining and issuing comments like “Albania doesn’t need such investments, Albania doesn’t need ports, and Albania doesn’t need airports, because…” and it all ends up with the sentence suggesting that people are starving. Indeed, what is very elementary, but which would not even need to be explained and which nevertheless is necessary to be explained constantly is that all these result in a much stronger economy, in much higher incomes, in a much greater redistribution opportunity, which means much more being provided to people, which means, not only higher wages, but also much more better paid jobs.
Therefore, without wanting to keep repeating, I would like to go back to the points that the Minister mentioned in her speech, and which are related to the port and airport infrastructure. In the next few days, finally, after going through a real ordeal and after many unexpected turns, all not because of us, we will do the same as we are doing today by launching the construction site of the new Vlora airport. The Vlora airport will be an international airport, but in addition to that it will provide an added value as a high-level category airport designed to meet highest European standards, namely a 4E category airport, which will offer flights to any destination and transoceanic flight capacities and services, which the Albanian civil aviation still lacks today, and which will be available at the Mother Teresa airport too, thanks to a fresh investment due to start soon in order to extend and widen the runway, since the current runway doesn’t allow for direct flights to the United States or other countries outside Europe.
In addition to that, namely the new Vlora International Airport, is the new port whose construction will begin within a few weeks, the tourist port of Vlora that will also create another important link in the value chain. A port for maritime tourists, a port for yachts, which it is worth noting again, is another engine for the country’s economy, because those who comment on ports and airports, airlines or on yacht ports, saying we are seeking bread rather than ports and airports, they should know that these are all “bakeries”, which means, they provide new links to the value chain. The new tourist port of Vlora will attract not only tourists, but it will also generate many services, which will certainly be taken up and performed by local residents, which means that many new jobs will be created. But on the other hand, the port will attract a growing influx of visitors, who will come to the area not to be locked inside, but instead they would like to go out to walk, will come to eat, will come to travel to these areas, will come to sleep once here and once there and will pay for all these services, which would be translated into more income for those due to work here and earn a living through tourism economy.
On the other hand, an international tender has been launched for construction of another airport in Saranda, which would be the country’s fourth airport and totally a tourist airport, but which will again provide an added value to the whole this range of services. One should not forget that work is about to complete and the contract will be signed soon on the biggest investment ever worth over 2 billion euros to construct the port of Durres, which from an old and polluting harbour will be transformed into one of the largest tourist ports in the Mediterranean, bringing many fresh economic opportunities, employment opportunities and creating well-paid jobs, as well as bringing another major contribution to the whole value chain from which it will benefit, not only Durrës, but the whole of Albania.
To conclude, the two tourist ports will not exclude, but on the contrary will enable two new cargo ports, which means we won’t lose a cargo port in Vlore and you all know its miserable current state, but we will win a new cargo port at the Triport area, together with a new fishing port, which will give a new value to the fishing industry. The same will happen in Durres, where a new cargo port will provide an additional value and more opportunities in terms of the commercial maritime activities. One of the world’s biggest companies has been already announced as winner of the tender to construct the new Durres port. The company is currently working to design the project and its implementation will start shortly after.
All this is good news, but it will of course take time for all these projects to complete, it will take patience and more quality work. I am very pleased to have been given the opportunity to rely on a leading Turkish company ASL for construction of the Llogara Tunnel, as the company is renowned for construction of the longest tunnels in our continent. I am pleased that a consortium that has been announced as winner of the tender will deploy all its capacities here, will mobilize its experience and we have all witnessed its capacities in construction of Fire regional hospital, the capacities to set in motion a whole machinery of equipment and human resources to construct within the shortest deadline possible a major facility, which will be extremely valuable to our country, our people and our future.
So, welcoming the Turkish company together with its partners and assuring all those who are watching us now that this will be a work about which we all will be proud once complete, I am confident that the company will beat the deadline and the project will complete before the 33-month deadline.
Thank you very much everyone and meanwhile you know, or maybe you don’t, but I need to underline that I do not cut ribbons, I do not believe in scissors because I largely focus on completion and not on the beginning of work, but since in this case it is not about a ribbon, but a button and since someone has to press the button, I asked that girl who became the icon of this journey, and whom I met for the first time during the 2013 electoral campaign, when she was much younger and accompanied us throughout this long journey, I would ask her to press the button so that we can consider the work on this so important project already underway.
