Denada Jushi
Mountain package was presented by Prime Minister Rama as an ambitious project for investments in the mountains of Albania and expectations were for the development of the Alpine areas in the North or the Southern Highlands, but a few days ago were published some of the areas include Durrës, Kavaja and other maritime areas, but which the government now apparently also considers as mountainous areas.
Albania is truly one of the richest countries in Europe in terms of mountainous terrain. The Alps, deep valleys and villages nestled on the slopes resemble tourist postcards and are a great potential for economic development and tourism.
However, although it has been presented as an opportunity for sustainable development and the restoration of economic life in abandoned villages, the implementation of the mountain package has ambiguities and paradoxes, in addition to the fact that the development criteria are still unknown.
The law provides several criteria for the selection of these areas:
- Tourist, economic or industrial potential;
- The presence of “non-owners” – a legally confusing category that hinders development;
- Difficulty in obtaining permits due to lack of clear property documentation.
The government has delegated a large part of the responsibility for implementing the package to local governments. Prime Minister Edi Rama has asked mayors for some concrete tasks to set this project in motion.
First, municipalities must identify areas where investments can be made. They have been asked to prepare maps with priority territories where guesthouses, tourist structures or agro-tourism activities can be built. These maps are considered the first step to orient investors and determine where interventions can be made.
Secondly, the government has set a target of around 1000 investments in mountainous areas, mainly in rural tourism and agrotourism. The idea is that these investments will create local economies and generate jobs in areas that have been facing mass emigration for years.
Another element of the package is to attract diaspora capital. The government aims for Albanian emigrants to invest their savings in family lands and properties in mountainous areas, turning them into guesthouses, tourist farms or tourism-related economic activities.
But, in addition to these objectives, the Prime Minister has also put political pressure on local governments. He has warned that the performance of municipalities in implementing the package could affect the funding they receive from the government and even the re-election of mayors in the upcoming elections.
ACQJ spoke off the record with employees of key municipalities to better understand where the problem lies. The main one, they say confidentially, is land ownership.
One of the biggest problems inherited after the fall of the communist system was that land is still registered as state property or pastures, while in other cases there are conflicts between families over ownership. In the absence of ownership certificates and clear documentation, investors cannot apply for projects or obtain building permits.
Another obstacle is the limited administrative capacity of many municipalities, especially small ones. Many of them do not have specialized staff such as urban planners, territorial planners or experts for the development of investment projects. The preparation of development maps or territorial analyses requires technical expertise that not every municipality has.
The problems are compounded by the lack of detailed urban plans in many mountainous areas. In some cases, it is not clear which areas are suitable for construction and which should be protected.
The problems are compounded by poor infrastructure. Many mountain villages lack roads, water supplies, electricity, or internet connections.
Danger to nature
In addition to administrative and legal problems, environmental experts like Abdulla Diku also warn of serious risks to mountain ecosystems.
Albanian mountainous areas are among the most sensitive habitats for biodiversity. Uncontrolled construction can lead to deforestation, habitat fragmentation and biodiversity loss. Furthermore, the lack of clear standards for construction typology could lead to a repetition of the concreting pattern seen in some tourist areas of the country.
The “Mountain Package” could be an opportunity to bring investment and revive the economy in abandoned mountain areas. But so far, its implementation seems to be running into a number of problems.
If these challenges are not addressed with transparency and planning, the initiative that aims to save the mountainous areas could end up creating another familiar story of Albanian development: a project that began with great ambitions, but that on the ground ends in chaos and concrete.acqj.al
