Work is in full swing to rebuild residential buildings that sustained serious DS4-level damages in the devastating earthquake that hit the country on November 26, 2019. As many as 11 reconstruction sites, while many projects on other facilities have been already approved. Prime Minister Edi Rama today visited Durres to see progress of construction work on rebuilding several apartment buildings that sustained severe damages due to the November 26 earthquake.
“This residential building, which is being reconstructed now, became a symbol of the devastating earthquake that hit Durres,” Mayor of Durres Emirjana Sako said as she commented on one of the buildings that has sustained visible structural damages. “There are 281 families, 150 of which regularly receive rental bonus. The building’s reinforcement process is already underway. A total of 11 DS4-tagged buildings are being repaired. The structure reinforcement work will take place from the basement to the fifth floor. Concrete walls will be built to ensure the building’s stability,” Mayor Sako explained, adding that work is underway on 11 buildings. “Funding has yet to be provided to support reconstruction of 11 more buildings. Procedures are underway in collaboration with the Construction Institute on rebuilding 55 other facilities, with the projects already forwarded and are now being scrutinized by the Institute. This is all about apartment buildings only. In the meantime, reconstruction of more than 70 single-family homes has already completed,” she said/
The Minister of State for Reconstruction Arben Ahmetaj said that procedures are being carried out as part of other phases of the post-earthquake reconstruction programme.
“The Council of Ministers will convene tomorrow and two project sections will be approved, namely two access roads to Spitalla neighbourhood, while first section worth $6 million provided by Abu Dhabi is already underway, including the huge apartment building along Ramadan Veliu street, which poses a challenge in terms of its structure. The funding will be transferred tomorrow and the Albanian Development Fund will launch the procurement procedures,” Reconstruction Minister said.
Procedures are also about to complete on reconstruction of 30 more five-storey residential buildings.
Reconstruction Minister noted that the funds have been allocated to support the reconstruction process.
“An amount of $280 million has been allocated by the state budget for this year and funding continues normally. No problems have been encountered in terms of funding. The next year’s fund, as you have already instructed, will total around $180 million in state budget funds to support the reconstruction programme, with the government funding estimated at around $650 to $700 million. In the meantime, all projects funded by the international donors are also underway,” Ahmetaj said.
PM Rama underlined that the most important part of the programme, namely the projects designing, has completed and all it remains is speeding up construction work to deliver on the reconstruction projects as soon as possible. “Most important, the projects designing has completed, because it has been the most difficult and most problematic part. With them now complete and after receiving approval by the Institute, as it is about delicate projects that require 100% assurance about the interventions and efficient implementation, I believe we could then state that waiting will no longer take so long. I am confident that everything will complete within autumn,” he said.
