The Albanian government has posted a report detailing how many families remain in tents as of 31 December 2019, following the devastating 26 November earthquake.
In Lezhe Municipality there are 73 tents with 256 inhabitants, in Kurbin Municipality there are 345 tents with 1334 inhabitants, in Mirdite there are 35 tents with 143 inhabitants. In Durres Municipality there are 200 tents with 778 inhabitants, in Shijak Municipality there are 174 tents with 723 inhabitants, and in Kruje there are 612 tents with 2592 inhabitants.
According to the published statistics, there are no more people in tents in Kamza and Vora Municipality.
This was contradicted by up to date reports from and NGO on the ground, who confirmed there are some 5 families in the village of Vlashaj near Vore, still in tents. Furthermore, these tents were not provided by the Municipality and they told Exit that the state has provided no assistance other than sending engineers to check their homes
According to the statistics, In Durres, Shijak, and Kruje there is a need for around 622 winter tents to replace summer tents.
Last week, Deputy Interior Minister Rovena Voda claimed that by New Year, all people would be in winter tents. She added that all people in Bubq had been given winter tents, something that was disproved by journalists who visited the area on 30 December.
In terms of the rental bonus, In Durres, Shijak and Kruje, some 4052 families have been approved for the rental bonus. They claim that in Vora, all persons who have been in tents have been approved the rent bonus. Exit checked with citizens in Vora and found there are a number still in tents that have not been offered the rent bonus.
In Kamza 217 families were approved for rent bonus, with 2274 in Tirana, 60 in Rrogozhine, 176 in Kavaja, and 499 in Vora. In Lezhe, some 1040 families have applied.
In Durres county, some 3613 are still accommodated in hotels, and in Lezhe over 1000 are in temporary hotel accommodation.
Over one month since the earthquake that killed 52 people, more than 10,000 people are still in tents, many that are unsuitable for the current sub-minus temperatures.
The Democratic Party has announced that in municipalities such as Kruje, some 100 families have not been given sufficient bonuses to cover their rent. They claim that residents told them that the Municipality had given them around 30,000 ALL for rent after being told they had to leave hotels by 3 January. Residents said they will go on hunger strike due to the bureaucracy and lack of information related to their needs.
DP representatives Gazment Bardhi, Albana Vokshi, Lindita Metaliaj and Gent Strazimiri stressed that “the opposition will be their voice, preventing government propaganda from strangling the truth”.
“First, come meet you and let you know what will happen to you. Second, the City Council should immediately increase the rental bonus. With 30 thousand lek can not be rented house. If they think you can find a rental house for 30,000 lek then vacate their home. Third, if they do not trust, they will find their own house for rent and the municipality or government will pay for it themselves. ”
