Today the National Inspectorate for Territory Protection (IKTM) started yet another operation for demolishing houses as part of the Outer Ring Road project. The operation is taking place in Lapraka.
Citizens clashed with police claiming they were not notified about demolitions of their houses.
They claim their houses are either legally built or undergoing the legalization process, and they were presented no prior notice, as foreseen by the Law. Today the police forced out several families, and the IKTM started the demolition of houses.
Bajram Nelaj, one of the affected citizens, explained that he received an official notice only yesterday, where he read that he could appeal the demolition decision within 30 days. He proceeded with the appeal within hours of receiving the notice but today IKTM’s bulldozers already started the demolition.
The Outer Ring Road project has not yet been revealed to the public, causing anger and protests by hundreds of families in the Astir and Lapraka area, whose houses the government is set to raze.
The government has planned the demolition of 317 private buildings in the Astir area, where citizens have been protesting for weeks, but there is no information yet on the number of houses to be demolished in Lapraka.
Meanwhile, yesterday the IKTM started to tear down buildings in Shkoza, southern part of Tirana, to open the way for the 3rd lot of the Southern Ring Road. Shkoza citizens shared the same concern with Astir and Lapraka citizens of not having been previously notified.
