Construction of some 230 new housing units completed for the families that lost their homes in Manze, Durres municipality due to the devastating earthquake that hit Albania in November 2019. The post-earthquake reconstruction programme is in full swing across all quake-hit areas and a growing number of families are gradually moving into their new homes.

Although one of the worst-hit areas sustaining devastating damages due to the earthquake, Manza now boasts a new residential neighbourhood, comprising nine residential blocks of modern apartment buildings of three various typologies.

Reconstruction in the New Development Zone has delivered on a new model of better and more beautiful neighbourhood in line with higher standards and designed in the same way as the new residential complexes in the towns of Laç and Thumanë. Single family homes are also being built on the same site according to contemporary and European standards.

Prime Minister Edi Rama today visited Manze to share with local residents the joy of moving into their new homes. PM Rama underlined that despite the remarkably difficult years because of the devastating earthquake, the pandemic and the most recent crisis triggered by the Ukrainian war, the government has successfully coped with the situation and has kept moving forward.

As part of his visit, PM Rama also toured some of the newly-built housing units.

The area’s urban infrastructure with a new streets network and overall rehabilitation works were also carried out under the post-earthquake reconstruction programme in the whole administrative unit of Manze.

 

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Prime Minister Edi Rama’s remarks at inauguration ceremony of 230 housing units in Manze, Durres:

Hello everyone! Enjoy your new houses and I wish you all the best as you settle in.

They are your properties as real estate that you can now pass down and bequeath to your children for free!

This is one of those moments when one can pardon everyone after having dealt with all sorts of hurdles and enduring all sorts of assaults, accusations, slanders and fabrications just because of being in office. And you can pardon everyone since this is worth it.

It’s absolutely worthwhile that by serving in this office you stand by so many people experiencing such a miserable plight and grief of losing homes in just a few seconds in a major natural disaster.

It’s really worth it to be there for so many people and together with others to make sure that all these people, thousands upon thousands of households return within such a relatively short time to much safer, more beautiful homes than the ones the affected families lost in the devastating earthquake.

This is a huge step forward that we have taken all together.

I feel proud of the work we have done, but most importantly, I feel proud of your trust that massively again put in Ani by re-electing her as Durres Mayor, who is a role model for being dedicated, hardworking, patient and, most importantly, for staying by people.

The new remarkably beautiful residential complex is a meaningful example of what we can keep doing and delivering together with Ani and the Albanian Development Fund that has done its share of a work which speaks for itself and no comments are needed.

In the meantime, as you already know, as if the devastating earthquake and the pandemic affecting whole world were not enough, now we have to cope with repercussions of a war we neither started nor can we stop it, but in an interconnected economy, it affects everyone with its impact spilling over into us and outside Europe, even in distant Australia. The war has its impact on commodity prices as it was started by an aggressive force, which represents a large country and also a main supplier of raw materials ranging from energy, oil, gas, to inputs for agriculture.

Russia together with Ukraine represents the main share in these supplies and this war definitely has direct impact and affects the entire supply chain and then sends prices of these items skyrocketing. However, again, as we already did previously – and you certainly remember it well in the wake of the powerful earthquake, because for many others it was just an event they learned about on TV channels, but it was a disaster you went through and that you will never forget the horror of that event when you found yourselves under the open sky in the blink of an eye and facing the prospect that nothing would recover again. We are very proud to become part of its course. We stood by you by employing whatever we could and today we are demonstrating to everyone that when we pledge not to let anyone alone this is not merely a beautifully worded sentence, but it is a fact of the way we consider office. This is also with the recent unusual situation, that in a way it is another blow from a calamity which in this case is not caused by nature, but by people outside this country, being affected by this calamity. We will again stand by those most in need.

In the meantime we have made a commitment and we did so when the war had yet to start. We made this commitment when we did not even think that a war was about to start. We actually made this commitment when the early signs of the power supply crisis just started looming and we will deliver on this commitment that we will stand by you and every family by providing compensation for the increase in the price of electricity, so that no Albanian households feel the effects of the crisis on their electricity bill.

You all will be paying the same amount and settling the same electricity bill as you used to pay prior to this grave crisis and the government will cover the rest for each and every one of you, as we can’t transfer the burden of this crisis to your household budget. We can’t shift the burden of this crisis to retirees, people with disabilities, and the households under social welfare schemes, as well as all the middle-income families that are facing the rising prices of consumer goods. We will also provide a three-month additional support to offset the rising prices of the basic items for more than half a million of people.

The government will also continue supporting farmers by increasing funding under the tax-free oil scheme.

We will index the upcoming pensions and make sure that this situation is addressed swiftly under a social aid package aimed to support pensioners and vulnerable groups, private and public sector employees and farmers.

Wars do not happen for not for the benefit of anyone. Wars inflict wounds and pain.

Thank God we are not being shelled and no bombs are being dropped over our heads. The real war is happening somewhere else, and the war wounds and victims are being inflicted somewhere else. However, the war has its impact on prices. We will be here as we have always been, totally committed to not let anyone alone, especially those most in trouble so that we can overcome this difficulty together.

Few people or perhaps nobody ever believed me when I pledged to move heaven and earth in order to secure funding for construction of much better homes than the ones you lost in the earthquake.

This is totally a brand new residential neighbourhood, part of an ongoing work, clearly showing that we say what we can do and we do what we say. Of course, not everything is in our hands as we can’t plan the events, things that happen for one reason or another. Certainly, we can’t precisely forecast the deadlines of all the projects we launch as there are projects that take longer time and there are other hurdles on the way of certain projects. However, it is for sure that I keep my word and I deliver on my commitments no matter what happens. It is just a matter of time for us to deliver on whatever we promise, just like we constructed this new residential complex that is opening doors for you to start moving into your new homes, just like we will do with many more residential neighbourhoods in other quake-hit areas, including the largest residential complex of Spitalle in Durres municipality, as well as other similar neighbourhoods in Tirana or the one in the town of Kavaje that we plan to visit tomorrow. We will press ahead and complete all the projects to make this country increasingly better, without forgetting for a single moment that if all these projects were to start 25 years ago the country would have been in a completely different situation today, but we are not to be blamed for this. We took office over eight years ago and many projects have been launched from scratch. Suffice to bring to attention the justice reform and note that building the state takes its time.

We are confident that we will succeed in the efforts to take Albania to where it deserves through strong patience, hard work and unification. We had a bumpy road due to the subsequent shocks, first the earthquake, and then the pandemic, however, just as the earthquake and the pandemic did not bring us to our knees, this situation will not defeat us either. We will have moments like this, when children, grandparents will breathe a sigh of relief because they will be in a new station.

There are Socialists here, definitely there are Democrats, but let the arguments to others. You are here as members of a new community which I wish with all my heart to be a harmonious community, to find each other in as many joys, but definitely in difficult days.

Thank you so much!