The Albanian Development Fund (FShZh) has cancelled the tender for the reconstruction of 2,500 houses damaged by the November 26 earthquake.
The Public Procurement Agency (APP) has stated on its website that the tender procedure was cancelled because none of the bidders met the predetermined criteria.
The future of this tender remains unclear amidst the coronavirus pandemic and the state of emergency that has led the government to suspend public procurement.
Euronews Albania claimed the tender may have been cancelled due to high cost of prefabricated models and that the call for bids may launch again with modified technical criteria.
The website set up by the government to keep the public updated on the reconstruction process has not been updated in more than a month.
The call for bids for the €43 million tender opened on March 10. The tender consisted in reconstructing houses in Durrës, Kamza, Kavaja, Rrogozhina, Kruja, Kurbin, Lezha, Mirdita, Shijak, and Vora.
The government had previously promised that around 4,000 families left homeless due to the earthquake would welcome the year 2021 in their new homes.
With the tender aimed at reconstructing most of those homes cancelled, the government risks breaking this promise.
