“In the ‘5 Maji’ neighborhood of Tirana, one of the most modern urban, economic, social centres in Albania will come to life”. This is what the Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama, said on August 24, 2021 during a vist to the area.
“5 Maji” is a part of the Kombinat area of Tirana. In 2018, the government announced it would demolish at least 67 buildings to pave the way for a Municipality project, according to the TR2030 master plan. In place of the demolished buildings, new homes, offices, and commercial premises will be constructed with a price tag of €61.1 million.
While the project was already in the works in 2018, the municipality faced a challenge from people living in the area, who might object to their homes being demolished. Then in November 2019, a 6.8 magnitude earthquake rocked the country, damaging thousands of homes, including those in “5 Maji.” This gave the government the opportunity to proceed with demolitions and to implement the 2018 project.
The project, entitled “Tirana Riverside”, was designed by Italian architect Stefano Boer and trumpeted on official government channels.
The master plan specifies that the municipality will tender the development of the area so that private companies can benefit from construction bonuses, depending on the quality of the submitted project. A portion of the residents properties will be given to families whose homes were damaged during the November 2019 earthquake, and the rest will be sold.
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But Tirana Riverside was not drafted as an ordinary urban plan; instead, it was passed through several institutional acts that followed the earthquake:
- On December 16, 2019, the government announced the normative act for coping with the consequences of natural disasters.
- On January 31, 2020 the Council of Ministers announced the reconstruction of the neighborhood “5 Maji”, designating the Municipality of Tirana as the implementing unit of the project.
- On May 13, 2020, the National Council of the Territory approved the Compulsory Local Plan for the “5 Maji” area.
Local media also looked into the National Agency for Territorial Planning, but found that the plan is still at the drafting stage.
The earthquake was something of a blessing in disguise for the government. It allowed the project to move ahead without opposition, as the municipality was given the power to expropriate people from buildings that were allegedly damaged by the earthquake.
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This was confirmed by architect Astrit Seranaj in a comment for PortaVendore, an information portal. Seranaj said that the Albanian government used the normative acts approved urgently for the sake of post-earthquake reconstruction, to implement projects predetermined in the urban plan “Tirana 2030”.
“Tirana, Kombinati (including 5 Maji) and Paskuqani were not part of the reconstruction [plan]. Boer and Kazamont plans are part of the Tirana 2030 master plan. The earthquake situation was a golden opportunity that they exploited to their benefit. Undertaking the expropriations without the earthquake and the challenges presented by Kombinat would have made it very difficult to implement this plan. But the earthquake gave them the right to demolish even undamaged palaces or buildings.”
“Some will be expropriated, some will be given as much area as they owned,” says Seranaj.
According to research by Citizens Channel, there are 222 apartments in the “5 May” area, the fate of which are still unknown. Those who reside in these buildings are concerned about the project and the lack of transparency from the authorities.
For several weeks, residents have been protesting against the decision to demolish apartments. They say they have not been notified how and if they will be compensated for their homes. Others said they haven’t been able to legalize the properties as the state shut down the application process. This means any non-legalized properties will not be compensated financially or with a new apartment.
“I can not legalize it because the municipality has closed the procedure. I was interested in a property in Rinas [where new builds are being constructed], where the mortgage even went down to zero, but I am not allowed to do any kind of action,” said Shkëlzeni, a resident, to Citizens Channel.
Another resident told media: “We ask that our houses not be demolished. We have nothing to do with anyone. No one should infringe on our homes without an agreement, without a final contract. It is unfair for our house to be demolished, and we are being told that you will get [new] houses in two months. We have found the secret plan; towers will be built. The Municipality of Tirana has not published the project. I urge residents not to give up.”
Residents have even knocked on the office door of Prime Minister Edi Rama and the Ombudsman, but they have not received any answer regarding their problem.
“We have disclosed our requests and complaints; we have been told that they will tell us whether the problems have been resolved, but no one has explained. The demolition of the houses is against the law. Residents are not all in favor of signing the contract. Our area is not part of the post-earthquake reconstruction plan. The earthquake did not cause any damage here,” said one resident.
In the Constitution of the Republic of Albania, article 11 point 1 states that: “Freedom, property and rights recognized by the Constitution and by law can not be violated without a regular legal process.”
Whether the acts passed by the government constitute as “regular legal process,” is up for debate.
In fact, the Administrative Court ordered a halt to the demolition of three apartment buildings following a case brought by Respublica on behalf of citizens. Meanwhile, other demolitions continue.
Res Publica Laywers Refute Claims that Municipality of Tirana Won Kombinat Demolition Case
