The new neighborhoods built on the outskirts of Tirana, Ndroq and Zall-Herr, are being rejected by residents whose homes were destroyed by the earthquake of November 26, 2019. The neighborhoods continue to remain abandoned, while the buildings are covered in grass. Residents, disappointed with the constructions, refuse to live in them, considering them too small and unsuitable for their families.
In Ndroq, in addition to the lack of space, they also face problems with electricity, which is weak and insufficient for household appliances, making daily life difficult. Some of the families, although they received the keys in 2022, are still hesitant to finally settle in, as the conditions do not meet their basic needs.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy has stated that the size of the apartments is determined according to family composition, based on the decision of the Council of Ministers of December 2019. However, this has not influenced the conviction of residents to move to the new houses, causing many of them to seek other housing alternatives. The phenomenon of refusal is not isolated only in these two areas, but has also been encountered in other settlements affected by the earthquake, where residents choose not to live in the reconstructed houses due to limited space and inadequate conditions.
Phantom investments
Leaning on the window ledge, *Hysnie Kaloshi warmly invites you into what institutions call the rebuilt house for families who lost their homes in the earthquake of November 26, 2019.
The 70-year-old lives in one of the 74 reconstructed apartments in the Ndroq area with her daughter-in-law and son. From what she says about her, the new apartment cannot be called just a home.
“The apartments are very small. You lie down on the ground and your legs touch the other wall,” says Hysnia, according to whom the lack of space is not the only problem that appears in living in the new house, the keys to which she received on May 17, 2022.
“I’ve been putting the washing machine on since morning and I’m drying the clothes now,” says the elderly woman, who, as proof of the long wait, points with two fingers to her right wrist where the clock marked 3 p.m.
The Kaloshi family is among the few families that settled in Ndroq, in residential areas that the government says are similar to those “in England, America, Australia, without fences, which would make even the rich of Lundra and Farka jealous.”
From what “shteg.org” found, most of the buildings were empty and some others had grass growing on them since no one had set foot in them.
“There are problems with that and there are empty houses,” says the elderly woman, pointing out that in front of her house, three houses are empty and the grass in the common space between them is over a meter high.
Residents’ complaints and their rejection is due to the lack of even minimal infrastructure.
But for the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy, the problem of spaces that residents complain about is a closed issue with a decision of the Council of Ministers.
“The area of the houses of beneficiaries from the individual housing reconstruction program is determined depending on the family composition, according to the decision of the Council of Ministers on December 24, 2019,” says the response that “shteg.org” received from the ministry that managed the reconstruction project in Albania.
According to the Ministry’s clarification, the Council of Ministers has determined two application phases for families affected by the December 2019 earthquake.
“The application to benefit from the reconstruction process programs according to the provisions of this decision is made in two phases. In the first phase, applicants submit their request to benefit from the reconstruction process programs. The second phase of the application includes only those individuals/families who have been selected to be treated with one of these programs” – says the ministry, without commenting on other infrastructure issues that the families raise in Ndroq.
The Municipality of Tirana refused to answer questions about the number of families sheltered in Ndroq and Zall-Herr, but what was found was that the new reconstruction neighborhoods were almost empty.
“After losing old houses in remote and isolated locations, around 350 residents will gather in this central neighborhood, with quick access to services for all ages” – guaranteed in May 2021, Mayor Erion Veliaj for the rebuilt neighborhood in Ndroq.
But what “shteg.org” saw is nothing more than a neighborhood completely rejected by the families who were promised a home with European standards.
The government claims that residential neighborhoods are a model in the country, but in reality it looks different.
Although, in both villages of Tirana, the houses were completed in 2022, after 3 years, not all buildings are inhabited, and in some areas they are even covered with grass.
Residents say that the houses built do not have enough space for all family members, while in Ndroq, electricity power is also quite problematic.
During the presentation of the reconstruction process, former Minister of Culture, Elva Margariti, stated in February 2020 that 398 hectares of reconstruction areas had been identified, in which 7,981 apartments in collective housing and 806 individual housing would be developed.
“We are in a very large area, which involves 180 thousand square meters of reconstruction, which also includes public buildings,” the former minister declared, however, the reconstruction process has not always been followed by the residence of citizens in the constructed apartments.
In both Ndroq and Zall-Herr, Mayor Erion Veliaj’s enthusiasm in 2022, as he announced that the neighborhoods had been completed, was not met with joy by those affected by the earthquake. The latter have either chosen not to live in the houses built, or have complained about the cramped spaces in the rooms.
Official government figures showed that the damage caused by the earthquake affected 202,000 people, displaced 17,000 others, and killed 51 citizens.
The Official Report of the European Commission on the Donors’ Conference on 17 February 2020, spoke of around 985 million Euros in damages or losses caused by the earthquake. Based on the financial requirements for recovery, countries, international organizations and institutions offered to assist Albania in providing the necessary financial amount for the recovery of the earthquake damages.
* shteg.org used a fake name for the person giving the interview due to the fear the interviewee had.
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