15 months after an earthquake that damaged 670 homes in Korce, only 37 have been rebuilt and 76 reconstructed. A further 550 families are yet to receive compensation for repairable damage to their properties.
Furthermore, in terms of aid distributed during the pandemic, the Municipality of Korca only helped 14 out of 317 families in the village of Floq- one of those most impacted by the quake.18 Families in Floq have had their homes reconstructed or rebuilt, but the remaining have not had any compensation. The money would be used to repair homes and bring them into a reasonable state to be lived in.
The Elez family have been waiting for compensation for over a year. None of them are in work and financial assistance has been stopped. Their home is damaged and they do not have the funds to repair it. The state assessed damages as worth 30,000 lek (EUR 240) while an independent expert said damages exceeded 1.2 million lek (EUR 9,700).
The family said they were not included in the distribution of aid during the COVID-19 pandemic and instead relied on her daughter to bring her food.
The Ramolli family told a similar story. They said they slept in huts for months while waiting for damages to be repaired or compensated. Neither happened and they had to ask for money for it to be fixed.
The Jihani family, whose home has been declared as severely damaged, have been living in ruins during the warmer months. They are surviving on a pension and barely have money to survive, let alone to build their house. They said the Municipality brought one packet of food which was enough for two days.
A disabled man living alone in his 70’s had his home assessed for damage. It was determined he should be paid 50,000 lek (EUR 400) in compensation but to date, he has not received anything. He said the Municipality gave him one food parcel, equivalent to around 1000 lek.
The June 2019 earthquake hit southeastern Albania and caused damage to 670 homes. 37 were destroyed, 78 were severely damaged, and 555 suffered damage and were eligible for compensation. The Mayor of Korce told Faktoje he didn’t know when compensation would be given.
