The newly-built nine-year school “Dan Bajrami” in the municipality of Kurbin is set to open its doors to around 400 pupils soon. The old school’s building was seriously damaged because of the devastating earthquake last November and a new, bigger, stronger and more beautiful educational facility is being built. The construction of the new school with 15 classrooms, sports grounds and four labs is nearing completion.
“The old buildings sustained serious damages due to the earthquake, but a new school with a capacity of 440 pupils is being built. The building’s total floor area is 3200 square meters and it is being constructed on a site of 8000 square meters,” the Mayor of Kurbin Majlinda Cara said as she accompanied the Prime Minister Edi Rama, who inspected the ongoing construction works today.
Mayor Cara added that the new school will also serve as a community centre for around 4000 local residents. Outdoor sports grounds are being built around the school in addition to an indoor gym. The sports grounds include a football field and a volleyball and basketball court for pupils to attend the physical education classes, as well as for the community members, who will be allowed to use the grounds after the classes.
Prime Minister Edi Rama noted that the reconstruction principle applied to construction of every house, schools, health care and public services centres is “bigger, stronger and more beautiful.”
A separate kindergarten also underwent reconstruction.
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Construction of Kurbin’s new centre is also advancing rapidly to make sure that the brand new residential neighbourhood is rebuilt in the next three months over the ruins left behind by the tragic night of November 26. Development of the connecting infrastructure is heading towards completion and work to construct new apartment buildings is slated to begin very soon.
The project manager affirmed that first 160 apartments for the quake-affected families in the area will complete by March. The Minister of State for Reconstruction Arben Ahmetaj noted that the needy families are the first to move into their new apartment homes.
During his visit to construction site, PM Rama inspected the ongoing work to build the civil and urban infrastructure for the new residential neighbourhoods. Kurbin Mayor Majlinda Cara underlined that worl to construct new apartment buildings will kick off in the next few days. “The soil stabilization completed few days ago, while a layer of concrete is being laid to reinforce the site where the new apartment buildings will be constructed,” Cara said.
According to Minister Ahmetaj, the reconstruction program will completely transform the town’s landscape. “The town is being radically transformed. Two big residential neighbourhoods are being constructed, while eight schools building are being reconstructed or being built from scratch,” Ahmetaj said.
