Author: Merxhan Daci
For the family of Valentina Enes, the earthquake of November 26, 2019 was not only scary, but with everything that happened afterwards, it convinced her that this was an opportunity to leave the village and get closer to the city. Their house in Grubllesh, a village deep in the Tirana Highlands, was severely damaged. For two years they have left their house and all their possessions and live in a rented apartment in Ndroq.
" I'll pay 100 thousand lek " begins the story of the woman who will never forget the night that changed her life.
Valentina tells "Sinjalizo" that they expect to get a new house from the state and hopes that in that case she will leave once and for all the deep village of Grublesh, which, among other things, does not even appear on the map.
The Enesi couple have three children. On the other hand, for the head of the family, Astrit Enesi, these two years after the earthquake were difficult and trying. First, because the family of five received almost no support after the earthquake. "I only rented for two months, I submitted the documents for a new house here in the new neighborhood in Ndroq, but they didn't give it to me. Now they had given me 20 million lek in hand so that I could go and build a house from scratch in the village, but it's very bad there. It's very difficult terrain. You can't easily drive a car there. I had a one-story house, we built it ourselves, now it's 80 percent collapsed. There's no family left there ," Astrit recounts. But whether or not the relocation to Ndroq opens up a new perspective for his family, the head of the family comments:
" I spend the month miserable, the wife is a housewife, the son is at school ."
Life was different after the earthquake for Çlirim Skhretës, who never thought that he would have a house built especially for him and equipped with almost all household furnishings. His house on the hill in Vaqarr was completely destroyed in the November 26 earthquake.
He moves from one room to another, not hiding his joy for the new apartment that has turned it into a "tourist" destination, as he recounts everything with which the new apartment has been furnished.
According to the data collected by "Sinjalizo", it turns out that the "Fundjavë Ndryshe" Foundation, with the contribution of hundreds of donors, enabled the construction of this completely new neighborhood in Vaqarr, including the Liberation House.
Arbër Hajdari from the "Fundjavë Ndryshe" Foundation told "Sinjalizo" that until November 26, 31 individual houses were delivered in Vaqarr, Vorë, Durrës, Elbasan and other parts of Tirana.
He adds that 13 individual apartments that are still under construction will be delivered by the foundation.
One of the other areas affected by the earthquake was the village of Mustafakocaj, which includes the area of Baldushku. Unlike Vaqarri, here the process is moving more slowly.
Until now, 13 individual housing structures have been erected. A young worker who did not prefer to be identified told "Sinjalizo" that the beneficiaries are mostly residents of deep villages that the earthquake of November 26, but also the one of September 21, destroyed.
Meanwhile, the Christmas tree has been erected in the block of the new neighborhood on "5 Maji" street in the capital called "Riverside" or Riverside, conceived by the Italian architect Stefano Boeri. Although only two buildings are ready to receive the 100 new families, the sound of heavy paving machines can be felt from the entrance to the road. The road is being asphalted, a few days before the arrival of the prime minister for the introduction of residents into the new apartments.
In this area, 11 reconstruction buildings are expected to be built that will house hundreds of families affected by the November 26 earthquake. From the observation of "Sinjalizo" on the ground, although a ceremony was planned on Christmas day where the prime minister would also participate, this "party" according to the information of "Sinjalizo" has been postponed to the last day of the year.
However, there is a distinct difference between the photos of the project and what is happening on the ground. The project is far from what should have happened. This has brought delays and residents who still do not have a roof over their heads. Apart from the villages affected by the earthquake, Kombinati was another area that was damaged.
The Mayor of Tirana, Erion Veliaj, promised that the new neighborhood of Kombinat, which will be built to house the families affected by the November 26 earthquake, is the most ambitious project of the 100 years of the capital Tirana.
" This project includes 1.5 million square meters of construction. It is perhaps the most ambitious construction in the 100 years of the capital Tirana, where it will accommodate 21.534 people ."
" At KombinArt, we are building another model neighborhood for families left homeless by the earthquake, where work has been completed on the first 2 buildings, out of 40 that will turn Kombinat into the new hub of Tirana ," said Veliaj.
But when observing on Google Earth, the traces of Kombinarti seem non-existent.
Rama informed the residents of the Kombinat in December that the reconstruction process for them would take time, but the rent bonus would continue.
" This is the area where one of the largest reconstruction areas will be built. It is one of the largest projects, if not the largest, so it takes a little more time than for the construction of individual houses or smaller neighborhoods. All those who are waiting to enter the house, make all the days and nights halal, who have not stayed outside, but who have spent and will spend all the days until the end in houses with rent paid by the government of Albania ."
Sinjalizo requested details from the Municipality of Tirana on the progress of works on individual housing in the capital, but there was no reply to the editorial office. The same thing happened with the request to be informed by the Minister of State for Reconstruction Arben Ahmetaj, for more details about the progress of the reconstruction of individual houses in Tirana. Until the day of publication of this article, no response was given.
So, for the economic expert Zef Preçi, the reconstruction in Tirana, but not only, has several problems.
" The reconstruction process in Tirana is electorally perfect, it is being sold as a party gift to the people when in fact it is either donations or from the state budget. Legally it is poorly structured, the investigations of the Supreme Audit Office have produced some findings, so there are interpretable spaces, from a financial point of view it is a gift contract for the oligarchs. The houses that are built for citizens are small, close to main roads, schools, for example, do not meet the conditions as in Europe despite being European donations. Above all, there is a lack of transparency, the order of damage has not been respected."
Declarations, promises and deadlines for the reconstruction in Tirana
Arben Ahmetaj , Minister of Reconstruction, on December 5, 2019, said that by Christmas 2020, 80-90% of the families left homeless by the earthquake would be moved into their new homes.
Prime Minister Edi Rama said at the end of 2019 that by the end of 2020, all citizens who lost their individual homes will be moved into new, reconstructed apartments.
On June 18, 2020 , Mayor Veliaj , in Zall Herr, promised that work would continue on the construction of more than 800 individual apartments in Tirana, with the aim of housing as many families as possible in the new apartments by November 26, 2020.
"When citizens go on vacation, we should recover a large part of the November houses and as many families as possible should move into their homes before November 26. Then we will start with the palaces, which will certainly take a little more time," Veliaj said.
On November 3, 2020, Prime Minister Rama declared that in some areas, Tirana, Vora, Kruja and Thumana, around 850 individual homes are in the process of being reconstructed. “ In the areas of Kruja, Vora, Thumana and Tirana, 850 houses and three new neighborhoods have been built or are in the process of being reconstructed,” said the Prime Minister.
In a television interview on News 24, Ahmetaj set the deadline for completing the reconstruction as March 2022.
" By March of next year, all individual units will be finished. In March 2022, you will not see any sign of the earthquake, and all apartments will be rebuilt or reconstructed. This is an official, but also personal response. On behalf of the Prime Minister, this is a well-thought-out plan. No one will be left without a home," said Ahmetaj.
On December 4 of this year, Mayor Veliaj said:
" We have finished with about 500 houses that are individual apartments, type villas 1 + 1, 2 + 1, or 3 + 1, an extraordinary number that is mainly the rural part. Another part preferred to receive the money in cash, so we have also made the disbursement for these families. While on Monday we draw the lottery for the first 100 families that receive the houses in "5 Maji", a neighborhood designed by Stefano Boeri, that in Milan people dream of getting a house in Stefano Boeri's buildings, we are in the meantime giving them away for free to those who were damaged by the earthquake, ".
The reconstruction according to the IMF and HLSH has problems
But a mission of the International Monetary Fund stated in October of this year that the Albanian government has not been transparent about the use of public funds for disaster management, referring to the earthquake and the pandemic.
" Measures are needed to increase transparency and accountability regarding expenditures made under emergency procedures. These measures should be implemented as soon as possible, and the use of reconstruction funds should be subject to standard public finance management controls, " the IMF said.
In October, the Supreme State Audit published a final audit report on the reconstruction program. Some of the findings, considered to be of high importance, are as follows:
No documentation is demonstrated regarding the activity of the Minister of State for Reconstruction on the follow-up and coordination of the activities of ministries and other institutions, public and state, for the drafting and approval of programs for the reconstruction process of damaged and destroyed buildings.
The staff of the Minister of State for Reconstruction has reduced the activity of identifying the internal, material and human resources available to public and state institutions and determining how to use them for the realization of the programs of the reconstruction process. only in information on the progress of the process and that mainly in the local self-government units, which have not resulted in evidence of the resources available to the institutions and consequently not even in the determination of the way of their use.
The Minister of State for Reconstruction has not documented the follow-up of the implementation of the responsibilities and tasks assigned to the ministries and other institutions, as well as partially to the local self-government units, for the treatment of citizens who have lost family members and/or who have remained homeless, as a result of the earthquake.
The Minister of State for Reconstruction has not documented the preparation and proposal of general and special projects to be part of the programs of the reconstruction process, and there are no documented requests for specialized human support.
The Minister of State for Reconstruction has not documented information on the manner of use and the efficiency achieved for any donation or support provided by state organizations and national and international organizations, associations, public personalities and various donors, inside and outside the country.
