Eight years after undergoing the Urban Renaissance, the boulevard of the city of Peshkopia will be demolished, to be rebuilt from scratch. The municipality has requested 182 million ALL for the refinancing of the project, since the one of March 2016, worth 105 million ALL, was destroyed within a year of the completion of the works.
Dali Ndoka carefully chooses where to put his foot among the broken tiles of the new boulevard of the city of Peshkopia. Once paved with asphalt, the tiles that covered the main promenade, "Elez Isufi", in 2016, turned into a concern for the residents of this area. Especially during the winter season, as a result of the frosts, the stone slabs posed a danger to those who were old.
"For the third age and for me personally, the new boulevard is a disaster. You can't walk there in normal times", says Dali Ndoka, a resident of Peshkopia.
"That boulevard has become a danger for all citizens. In Peshkopi there is frost throughout the winter and you no longer have a chance to enter there," Daliu adds, without hiding his disappointment for the intervention to which the boulevard of his city was subjected.
Known for the tall linden trees on both sides of the road, the boulevard of the city of Peshkopia underwent the project of Urban Renaissance in 2016. With a fund of 105 million ALL, the construction site only 600 meters away was opened on the eve of the partial, local elections in September of the same year, which ended with the victory of the socialist candidate, Muharrem Rama.
"They destroyed the history of the Bishopric. The former boulevard of lindens, regarded as one of the most beautiful in the country, became an ugly boulevard, precisely because of this intervention", says Femiu, another resident who sees with concern the degradation of the city's promenade.
The squares are supposed to have an average lifespan of 50 to 100 years, but only 8 years later the boulevard has been completely destroyed and is expected to undergo another rehabilitation intervention, which includes the removal of the tiles due to degradation and their replacement from the beginning. The new project, which includes the requalification of the square along with the facades, will cost 182 million new ALL and will be supported by the Albanian Development Fund.
The works are expected to start during the month of August and will be completed next year, which is again an election year.
Experts suggest that these projects are being used as mechanisms to entice the electorate, but also for financial benefits.
"The government chose to develop the city centers, but, at the moment these projects start and are used for electoral or personal, financial benefits of people close to power or people with power themselves, here we have a problem," says Pano Soko, an expert on economy.
"The funds intended for the good administration of the process, i.e. the construction of a quality city center that would stand the test of time, that would give a new image to the city, were misused", says Soko.
The Albanian government spent about 600 million euros on the transformation of city squares throughout the country as part of Urban Renaissance. Amid debates about the uniformity and poor quality of the tiles, which do not fit the cities where they are placed, a number of city centers that have undergone this project have shown problems.
The ambitious project of the socialist government started in 2014 with the transformation of the square of the city of Berat, but the 2.1 million USD invested in this square was scrapped 6 years later, in 2020, but it was also done from scratch.
"It is several times that cases of abuse of funds have been identified Urban Renaissance and these have started since Skanderbeg Square in Tirana and then in almost all the projects Urban Renaissance, either in Durrës, or in Fier, in Lushnja and now also in Dibër", says Pano Soko.
Bad investments
Built only 8 years ago, the pedestrian Urban Renaissance is totally degraded.
The tiles are broken, while most were damaged in the first frosts. As a result, during the month of August, it is expected that the pickaxe will be put on this investment.
Residents have expressed dissatisfaction with the intervention since its beginning. According to them, it was not difficult to recognize that the works were not of high quality, since they showed problems in the first frosts. They connect the haste of the intervention at that time with the electoral campaign, which was on the verge.
"The boulevard was built to create an impression on the voters that I am doing great works, but it was done poorly and without quality," says Hakiu, another pensioner.
"When it was asphalted, at least we walked freely, without getting in the way, while now I have to walk very carefully, because it goes and breaks my neck", - says the old man, while showing the broken tiles.
The Municipality of Dibra has submitted a request to the Albanian Development Fund and requested funding to redo the main boulevard of the city of Peshkopia, which is also the main artery of this city, connecting the "Tercilio Kardinali" street with the city ring.
"Following the municipality's request, a technical team of the Albanian Development Fund, together with representatives of the municipality, has conducted several field visits, with the aim of observing the problems and finding the best solutions for improving the boulevard, both functionally , as well as from the design side, following the necessary procedures for the support of the municipality even with its design according to contemporary standards", - the Albanian Development Fund accepts the support of this project.
The municipality of Dibra clarifies about Median INA that the reasons for this new intervention are related to the degradation of the investment.
"The current state of the Dibra boulevard is extremely depreciated. Also, some facades and part of the sidewalks need intervention for their reconstruction", - said the Municipality of Dibra in a written response to Median INA.
The project will cost 182 million new ALL, while the winner of the tender was announced at the beginning of July, the company "Sireta 2F”, although 5 other operators submitted a lower offer. The tender has been marked with a red flag, since all other operators, except the winner, have been excluded for not fulfilling the criteria of similar works. The works for this project are expected to last 12 months.
For Besi, the owner of a bar on the edge of the pedestrian street, the resumption of work is not good news. According to him, this promenade is the most important point of the city and the intervention will create costs for them and for the citizens.
"The boulevard is the heart of the city, the only place where Peshkopia residents spend an afternoon," says Besi. - The destruction from the beginning would make a big mess for us again, but if it will be done well this time, we are sacrificing another year".
For the engineer Munir Hoxha, the project i Urban Renaissance in Dibër it was poorly implemented, choosing tiles and stones of poor quality.
"This type of investment was a destruction project. The project started backwards with the choice of material. I don't know who was the originator, who took the stones from Berat, but even those stones that were brought were chosen of the last quality. Everyone within a year started to crumble and, not only the old, but also the young, are walking without attention, they can break their noses on the boulevard", says the engineer, suggesting that the area is full of stones, which can fit the characteristics of the climate of the area.
Stones from Italy for Peshkopia square
According to eSTIMATE of the works, it is anticipated that over 10 square meters of stone slabs will be demolished, to be replaced with new ones.
sights 3D show that this time there will be three types of stones, to avoid another failure of the project, even one will be taken in Italy, one in Bulqiza and the other, from Mali i Thate in the Pogradec area.
"Taking into account the climatic conditions and snowfall, the materials determined by the architect to be used in this building will be: basalt stones, Luserna stone, Kovašiča stone, Mali te Thata stone", - details the relation .
Although our country is rich in different types of stones, according to relationship, the square will be dominated by Lucerne stone, a stone found in the Turin area of Italy, due to its frost resistance.
"While many stones can absorb water, which then expands when it freezes, causing cracks or breaks, Lucerne stone has minimal capacity to absorb liquids. This means that rain and moisture, penetrating the stone, are less likely to expand inside, preventing frost damage, such as cracks", - his choice is argued in the relation.
In the technical report "Urban transformation in public spaces, region 2, implementation project - Dibra boulevard" - the destruction of this boulevard is accepted and documented.
"The current state of the Dibra boulevard is extremely depreciated. Also, some facades and part of the sidewalks need intervention for their reconstruction", - it is stated in the report.
According to the report, the project consists of the urban requalification of the boulevard, as well as partial intervention for the reconstruction of the facades along it.
Why was "Elez Isufi" Boulevard destroyed?
In 2016, the Prime Minister, Edi Rama, used the project to transform the main boulevard of Peshkopia to attack his political opponents, calling it a success of the socialists. In the post shared on Facebook at that time, Rama also published images of the project, but the implementation on the ground did not match the initial project.
"When we saw the project, there was also a fountain in it, but we never saw it in reality, only in photos," says Femiu, another resident of Peshkopia.
For economic experts, the destruction of the boulevard in such a short time shows misuse and abuse of public funds.
"The damage to the boulevard in a fairly short time proves the poor quality of the works carried out, the lack of proper and professional maintenance and creates a reason that the damage may also be a consequence of a possible abuse of public funds and the trust of citizens" , - argues Teuta Nunaj, economy expert.
According to her, in this case the re-investment is necessary, but beforehand an investigation should have been done by the responsible authorities, to identify the causes and culprits of the failure of this public work.
"The request for other funds will have to be argued in advance by the Municipality of Peshkopia, only after a real analysis has been done by experts in the field on the actual condition of the boulevard, the causes that led to its physical damage, if any the measures and what they were to avoid or reduce the damage to the boulevard. To bring out the concrete responsibilities of institutions and individuals, which are directly related to the maintenance of this public asset", she says.
"Being an important, public work for the community and the city, putting the boulevard out of order makes its re-investment necessary, but always after the causes and culprits have been identified", - emphasizes the economy expert.
The data for Open Procurement show that the 2016 project was financed by the state budget and was implemented by the Municipality of Dibra. The contract was concluded on August 29, 2016 and, according to it, its reconstruction had to be done within 75 days. The winning company of the tender results ALKO-IMPEX General Construction sh.pk., with administrator Arbër Abazin.
This project was financed through the decision of the Regional Development Committee, on March 10, 2016, through the local and regional infrastructure financing program.
In the 2016 business contract, among other things, it is underlined: "The contract is related to a total value of ALL 104,789,063 including VAT. In the last situation, the Contracting Authority keeps unliquidated the value of 5% of the contract for the security effect for repairing defects, in a period of 24 months, starting from the date of the act of approval and handover of the works".
KLSH finds a violation
In October 2018, the Supreme State Audit announced that it had reported to the Prosecutor's Office the former mayor of the Municipality of Dibra, Shukri Xhelili, and 4 other leaders of this institution for economic damage and negative effect on the state budget from the use of public funds without economy, efficiency and effectiveness.
According to the announcement of KLSH, violations were also found in the project: "Renovation of the infrastructure of the Boulevard "Elez Isufi".
"The economic operator has been declared the winner, which results in marked deficiencies in the documentation", argued the High State Control.
The report also found that the works started before the construction permit was issued.
"Under these conditions, IMTV should have fined both the Dibra Municipality and the economic operator for construction without a permit", says KLSH.
Experts suggest that, if projects have gone wrong, repair is necessary, but first the perpetrators of the abuse should be found and then the project re-financed.
"If the abusers are not found, then it will turn from abuse to abuse, and to avoid this, you must definitely repair the damage that has been done, but you must accompany it with a bill, so that it goes to someone personally; to those who were responsible for the project", explains the economy expert.
For the residents of Peshkopia, the orientation of projects towards other, forgotten areas is as important as the boulevard.
"Who is responsible for this? No one will know, they just waste money, when there are many roads in the villages of Peshkopia, which have been promised to be paved. Attention is also needed there, to help these people as well. I agree that the boulevard is the center, it should definitely be fixed, but they should not be abused in this way", says Pervizi, a resident of Peshkopia.
This article is part of a project that is financially supported by the Public Relations Office of the US Embassy in Tirana. The opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of the Department of State.
