The post-earthquake reconstruction programme has successfully completed in Shijak, becoming a role model municipality in the country for ultimately healing the quake wounds by providing decent housing for all the affected families that lost their homes on the evening of November 26, 2019. The construction of new apartments and distribution of the housing units marks also the end of a rental bonus programme that has been made available by the government for all the quake-affected families.

Prime Minister Edi Rama visited Shijak on Monday and attended the lot drawing procedure at the municipality on the fourth day of the process to deliver the housing units in 31 newly-built residential buildings to a total of 637 families that are slated to move into their new homes within this month. A total of 802 quake-affected families in Shijak have moved into their new homes to date. In the meantime, reconstruction and rehabilitation of damages to the DS1/2/3-tagged apartment buildings has also been completed.

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Prime Minister Edi Rama: It is for sure or to put it another way, it has somehow become a norm in this country that the harder one works, the more he is criticized. And of course, he who works hard, he may make mistakes, but what matters most is the fact that we don’t make mistakes intentionally, we don’t make mistakes to cause troubles and woes to other people and whoever of us makes such mistakes or wrongdoings he is excluded from us and he has to face justice.

However, today is really a beautiful day as together with the Deputy Prime Minister, tasked with overseeing the entire post-earthquake reconstruction process in the new residential neighbourhood, all the new buildings there are already built and ready to be delivered to the quake –affected families here.

I am convinced that a total of 670 families, if I am not mistaken, will immediately move into their new apartments now, but by spring, with the recently-planted trees blooming, it will be a residential neighbourhood nobody had ever imagined previously, because we actually succeeded in turning a grave disaster into a fresh opportunity for the people affected by it.

Of course, time has passed since then, but it is a time we have make best out of it, regardless of the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic happened, despite the fact that this energy price crisis has also had its huge impact, unfortunately forcing us to divert a significant part of the funds earmarked for the reconstruction programme in order for us to protect household consumers and the small businesses. Fortunately, such a move allows us to protect you, so you can continue to pay the same electricity price you used to pay before the crisis and before the war and you don’t feel the electricity price has increased many times, because you pay just 20% of that price and the government pays 80% of it each month and we will continue to do so.

Likewise, the government will also continue to pay the difference in the electricity bills for small businesses, because if we were to increase the electricity price for small businesses and the stores you go to shop, they will automatically charge you for the goods you buy. It is true that the prices of commodities have risen, but the reason why the price increase is lower than in all countries in the entire region and the reason why the war-driven inflation rate in our country is below 10%, while in other countries in the region it is nearing to 20%, ​​is exactly because we are protecting the electricity price for the families and small businesses and we will continue to do so.

However, this also implies that we can’t use a part of funds as we would have wished for to support investment projects and other development programmes, but solidarity with families, the solidarity with small businesses is actually our biggest investment at a time, as you are seeing for yourselves, lies are being told in all four corners, as the saying has it. One doesn’t dare switch on the TV, one dares not to click on a web-based portal, because they level criticism against you by telling lies to people.

It was yesterday or two days ago when a call was issued via the media on the small business to protest over “the higher tax penalties the government plans to impose on small businesses.” This is a pure lie! Small business is our most important ally.

But it is a completely different story when it comes to the big business and the tax penalties on the big business will see a tenfold increase under the new fiscal package. But this won’t be the case with the small business. The zero tax rate and zero VAT on small businesses, such as sole proprietors and the self-employed, will remain in force and we will maintain the government maximum support for the small businesses and no tax penalties will be increased.

No comparison can be drawn between past and present realities in the town of Shijak and whole Albania. A lot definitely remains to be done to deliver on our ambitions to take the country to the height it deserves to be.

You said that lies were told and you were rightly upset and worried when you were told that “you stand no chance of being housed, because you will have to purchase these houses or pay a very high monthly rent.”

You won’t pay a single cent neither to purchase nor rent these new houses. They are all yours and you can either rent them out, sell or donate to your children. It is up to do whatever you wish to do. You are the legal owners of these houses!

I would like to add something about this issue, as I was coming across these figures here. Out of 637 newly-built housing units, 247 of them are available to 247 families that have lost their houses, but they are currently living and working abroad. However, we haven’t excluded any of them and they have been treated equally. The 390 families living here have been granted the rental bonus, whereas the families living abroad have now their new houses built, because I am convinced that many of them will return back home sooner rather than later. This is a historic trend that other countries have already experienced much earlier and we happen to be the last ones to experience it, because we were also the last ones to emerge from the communism and isolation hell, with nobody allowed to leave the country for around 50 years. I am also pleased to see that all these residential buildings feature thermal insulation systems or the energy efficiency system that will be automatically translated into the saving of around 30 to 50% of the energy, meaning that these houses are not cold during winter and not hot during summer. So the need for heating and cooling is much lower compared to the previous apartments you lost in the earthquake.

I would beg everyone not to haste and install air conditioners and damage the buildings walls, because the Mayor here, together with us, plans to install solar panels for you, which will also help to reduce the electricity price for each and every one of you.

Thank you very much!