Prime Minister Edi Rama, accompanied by Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Edmond Haxhinasto, inspected construction works of Elbasani Road today. Works on this major segment of traffic from Tirana to Elbasan and further on toward South-eastern Albania and vice-versa resumed a month ago following suspension due to the failed payment of the construction company.

Prime Minister Rama considered resumption of work on this road segment as “the beginning of unblocking construction sites,” stating, though, that problems related to the construction of public works go deeper than just their obstruction because of the created debt and have to do with standards lacking since development stage.

“We have already started to unblock construction sites that used to be held hostage by the chain of debts, but this is only part of the problem we are facing today. The other part of the problem has to do with the development of miserable projects lacking standards, specifications and any contemporary approach whatsoever at a time where the citizens of this country deserve much more. This means that on one side we must do our best to put all this work we have just started on the right track respecting deadlines and standards, and on the other side we should be able to rehabilitate what is possible at a time when some of the things are irreversible, because of the projects already being completed and the work has been messed up, as it used to be the rule,” the Premier said.

Upon being briefed on the work conducted so far, Prime Minister Rama said he was convinced that this road would be only a “cornerstone” of the newly-shaped infrastructure model that would not tolerate any lack of quality and standards.

“This is a very important road not only for the capital of Albania but also for all I mentioned in terms of the establishment of a new model and a completely new approach on infrastructure. I am sure that at the end we will all be able to make the difference and at the same time we would have placed the cornerstone of a new way of design, implementation, monitoring and, finally, of making sure that in spending Albanians’ money we match their ambition to have European roads, not a country in the middle of Europe where roads are miserable,” the Premier said.

Minister Haxhinasto also stressed that an entirely new government philosophy would be adopted with focus on enhancing quality and all the required engineering, safety and signal specifications that, in turn, will be supported by Government with the respective budget to make sure they are completed on time.