Author: Dallandyshe Xhaferri
They are a group of girls who, after blocking the vehicle, stayed on the hill in front of Belshi. They pose and take pictures for Instagram. They don't stay more than 20 minutes and answer loudly that Belsh lakes are beautiful mainly in autumn.
"But not to stay, just for the photos we post. There is no infrastructure", answers Ana.
The municipality of Belshi advertises the city lake as one among dozens of such lakes in the Dumre area, which has an area of 26 hectares and offers a picturesque view of the city center. But on the other hand, apart from tourism, the lake is also used by residents for fishing and irrigation.
"In the territory of Dumre there are many natural lakes that were formed as a result of karst phenomena that have occurred and that continue today in smaller sizes. Their total surface area is about 640 ha. The water-holding capacity is 26 million m 3 of water. The beauties of these lakes have attracted the attention of various local and foreign visitors who can also be used for tourism. These lakes are used for fishing and irrigation of agricultural crops. They have different sizes and depths. The lakes are rich in fish, mainly natural carp, cultivated carp, bream, grass carp, etc., and in some lakes eel also grows as an endogenous species", - the municipality of Belsh counts.
But businessman Ervis Hysa during the conversation with "Sinjalizo" keeps looking at the main entrance of the business. He looks sad.
" We returned from Italy with the idea that we would invest in Belsh since tourism is also taking off, but now we are thinking of leaving ," says Ervis Hysa, who is convinced that the income earned from daily tourists does not justify the work done by the employees.
Hysa is one of 4 guesthouse owners in the area and as a former immigrant to Italy, he returned to his homeland to invest in building a family business. In the inns that offer sleep and accommodation, the smell of the rooms that are rarely opened, let you understand that few of the tourists choose to wake up in Belsh.
Cheap prices, but no fun
" Tourism in Belsh is short-term due to the lack of activities that could keep tourists longer. The local government is not cooperative in this regard ," says Hysa, which was also accepted by the mayor, Arif Tafani. Asked by "Sinjalizo", the mayor of Belsh says that there has been no direct initiative to cooperate with local businesses, but the Municipal Council has made a decision to reduce the business tax by 30%.
" To keep the tourists coming, we have organized various festivals such as the Balloon Festival, the Lake Nymph Festival, and the Cherry Festival ," Tafani told "Sinjalizo." The local government official added that the municipality is involved in the government project "Urban Renaissance," with the aim of rehabilitating the city center.
" After 2018, Belshi has become a magnet for tourists and during the 10 months of the year, 350 thousand foreign and domestic tourists have lunch or dinner in the city's 8 restaurants ," says the mayor proudly, according to whom the government-funded projects target not only the city of Belshi, but also the villages. However, at the end of the month, businesses find themselves struggling with bills, since, as they say, food and coffee tourism is not profitable.
The fight for land with the municipality
In January 2021 in Seferan, the works for the rehabilitation of the tourist paths that connect the Rrahman Lakes with Marinza and Merhoje lakes started. Located only 4 kilometers from the center of Belsh and due to the potential for the development of agro-tourism, this village was included in the "100 Tourist Villages" project as well as in the tender for the development of tourist attractions based on local potential.
The contract is divided into preventive ones, which include the tourist areas of the municipality of Belsh with a fund of 157 ALL including VAT. This preventive measure foresees the construction of beach areas, piers, as well as the construction of warehouses, which, according to the residents of the area, will help them to collect agricultural products.
"Sinjalizo" has closely investigated this investment in December 2021, where according to the contract signed between the Albanian Development Fund and two companies, "Franko Construction" and "Vëllezërit Hysa", the works should have been completed on December 30 of the year past.
At that time, the clash with the residents of the area due to ownership problems was seen as an obstacle to the realization of the works by the Albanian Development Fund. The construction of the warehouses remained suspended, while Avdi Kasaj, a resident of Seferan, claims that the surface of the land on which the works started was owned by him.
" Work on these warehouses started at 3 in the morning and they destroyed 120 olive trees for no reason ," he said at the time, adding that he had sued the Belsh municipality in court for falsifying ownership documents.
Today, eight months later, the project is still not finished. "Sinjalizo" has managed to secure the contract of the merger of the two winning companies with the ADF and the amendment for the postponement of the works until September 30, 2022. However, until the moment of publication of this article in the village of Seferan, the groups of workers of the winning companies were not present for the further realization of the works. The warehouses have not been completed and the claims of the resident who insists on his rights have left in the shadows and question marks, whether this part of the project together with the constructions at Marinza lake will be ready at the end of September.
" I have lost the lawsuit with the municipality and now I no longer object to construction on this land ," said Avdi Kasaj, who adds that his ownership has been unfairly revoked by Law 7501.
" From all of my father's property, I only got 4 acres ," he adds, while the mayor, Arif Tafani, when asked about this case, says that the property where the investments will be located is public and that for 30 years, Mr. Kasaj could have ended up taking ownership legally.
" I believe 30 years is enough to make the ownership documents ," he adds to "Sinjalizo".
This is not the only case where the residents of Belsh clash with the institutions, or with each other due to property problems. On July 6 of this year, the Elbasan police reported that 37-year-old DH was arrested in the village of Çepe, after he fired a firearm at another citizen during a dispute over ownership, but fortunately the incident ended without any victims.
Experts: Law 7501 was misapplied
Lawyer Ylli Kameri says that for better or for worse, law 7501 had to be implemented in Albanian society, starting with the crimes committed with the motive of the conflict over property.
" Albanian society in 1991, faced with social problems of survival and housing, would use the process of dividing agricultural land to solve the housing problem, by turning agricultural land into plots, initially, mainly around cities ," says Kameri, emphasizing that this phenomenon began to spread to all agricultural lands, wherever they were located in the country, which would be accompanied by total manipulation of ownership documentation.
" The first problem, therefore, is the correct allocation of the agricultural land fund, because Law 7501 provided for expropriation if the land was not agricultural land, " he adds, also emphasizing the fact that the law provided for expropriation if the land was not used for agricultural purposes.
