Author: Fatjon Baze, Klaudja Karabolli
From October 2016, new kiosks began to be placed at the intersections of the central area of the capital, for which no public information has yet been provided.
"The municipality sent us a letter to remove the kiosk. We waited anxiously for two days, while on the third the worst happened. In the morning we saw two new kiosks next to us."
Irgen Gashi, the 45-year-old, who for 26 years manages to provide income for his family through the sale of products that are consumed by passers-by, is extremely concerned by the fact that the Municipality of Tirana is adding kiosks in the capital.
Lucie Elezi, the 50-year-old employee of a small cafe at the entrance to Kavaja Street, is on full alert.
"Now with the new kiosks, the work has decreased a lot, the bars and the kiosks are next to each other. Citizens get the water they can buy at the bar at the kiosk located in front of our door," she told PSE.
The municipality's initiative to install new kiosks, in addition to merchants, has also worried the citizens, who for the most part see them as useless and occupying the few public spaces in Tirana.
"I have been buying the newspaper at this kiosk here for 20 years University Book, two new kiosks were installed a month ago, they also sell newspapers. I don't understand why they occupy our sidewalk with kiosks that offer the same things", said a 60-year-old pensioner for PSE who will not be identified.
Everything started in October of last year, when new kiosks were placed at the main intersections of Tirana, while no public announcement was made by the municipality to argue their need and the benefit of citizens from this initiative.
Today, when seven months have passed and about 100 new kiosks have been placed in the central area of Tirana, the municipality does not provide any information regarding whether or not there is a study on their need in the capital.
In the same way, the Municipality of Tirana does not make public any plan, in terms of the number of kiosks that will be placed in the capital and the duration of their stay in public spaces.
PSE was addressed at the beginning of February through a request based on the Law of the Right to Information Tirana Municipality to request a copy of the study, plan and contract for this decision-making.
The Municipality of Tirana was asked for information on how the expertise of the companies, which have received the right to place kiosks in the capital, was judged.
The municipality did not respond to the request within 10 days - the deadline set by law - and also did not respond to the request of the Commissioner of the Right to Information in April to make this information public.
All unhappy
The placement of new kiosks in Tirana has created quite a bit of concern among citizens, who see them as an occupation of public spaces, which have been narrowing over the past 26 years.
The addition of kiosks in Tirana and the placement of about four of them at every important intersection brings to mind the time when the capital had turned into a shelter for hundreds of illegal kiosks, a situation which culminated in 1998.
Faced with an unstoppable kioskization of Tirana in 1999, their destruction began, a process which took off in 2000, when the capital was led by Prime Minister Edi Rama.
Urban planning experts are also concerned about the return of kiosks. Urbanist Flamur Kuçi told PSE that there is no positive argument for their placement, at a time when the problem they cause in the city is great.
"I don't know what public interest the kiosks have and on what legal grounds the municipality offers this service. Kiosks are placed outside of any urban planning standards, as they do not create security, they block public spaces, sidewalks and citizens often walk on the street and they become a source of accidents", he explained.
Many unanswered questions about the need for kiosks in Tirana also have traders, who for years have sold in kiosks, shops or supermarkets products that come to the aid of passers-by - such as water, packages, tissues, newspapers and chips - and today they have their a new kiosk offering the same products.
A. Shutina, owner of a small shop on "Perlat Rexhepi" street, told PSE that the kiosk located 10 meters in front of her shop is bankrupting her.
"The new kiosk has been placed in front of my store for two months. I work here with my husband and with this business we support the family. Profit has dropped significantly. Citizens now buy at the kiosk at the intersection," she said.
Irgen Gashi says that there is no logic that next to his kiosk with permission for more than two decades, a new one is placed, which sells exactly the same products.
"We are two co-owners in this kiosk that sells newspapers, water, soft drinks, cigarettes and other fast-moving consumer goods. The new kiosks offer the same products as us. We are going bankrupt and we have nowhere to complain", he said.
Decision on kiosks, non-transparent
WHY was it impossible to get an argument, study or plan regarding the placement of kiosks in Tirana, after requesting this from the press office in the Municipality of Tirana, the chairman of the City Council of the capital, according to the request drawn up on the basis of the Law on the Right to Information.
Information about the kiosks is not even found on the official website of the municipality. Likewise, the General Local Plan of Tirana envisages 13 strategic projects, but at no point is any plan for kiosks mentioned.
However, this information was not forwarded even to the representatives of the opposition in this council. The chairman of the municipal councilors of the opposition, Nard Olli, told PSE that they had already addressed the court to know the municipality's plan regarding this decision-making. Olli added that they do not have any information about the project of the new kiosks, the number or the purpose of their placement.
"The mayor is obliged by law to inform the members of the opposition, but he has not done such a thing, for this reason we have taken him to court and the case is under consideration", he said.
He points out that the decision never passed the Municipal Council, but was made by direct order of the mayor, Erion Veliaj.
In the windows of the new kiosks in Tirana, it can be seen that their licenses are under the names of two companies, MPM Multi Parking Management and K/E Shop.
In the national register of companies, MPM Multi Parking Management was founded in 2015 with parking management activity, laundry, car wash, retail activity, leasing and sale of real estate.
In order to obtain information about the plan for the placement of the kiosks, PSE tried to contact the company's administrator, Dariel Duka, at the number published in the company's activity extract, but received no response.
Meanwhile, in the national register, K/E Shop is a company, which was founded in February 2017 with administrator Ervin Zenelin.
This company declares as its activity the retail trade of various items and gives as address the locations of the kiosks it has in Tirana.
Zeneli also did not respond to PSE's request to detail his venture with kiosks in Tirana.
In some European countries, kiosks have been used by local governments in a limited way as a social aid for poor families and left to their administration, while it seems that this did not happen with the new kiosks in Tirana.
Some of the vendors at these kiosks told PSE on condition of anonymity that they were employed by the companies that managed them.
The situation becomes even more senseless, when many of the installed kiosks have been closed for months and add even more questions as to why their installation was considered necessary.
