Honorable Chair,

Dear Colleagues,

I am reading once again the object of why this interpellation was requested, since the previous speaker did not read it, and I came prepared to clarify the concerns of the residents of Thumana. I thought that the colleagues from the right wing had genuinely inquired about the public’s issues and were interested in their problems. Meanwhile, I am being asked for clarifications to explain what financial instruments such as PPP (Public-Private Partnership) and concessions are. I see extreme confusion from the colleague, and I regret that since you received the written material, you should have asked about its content because you confused what is a Public-Private Partnership with state money for 13 years with the concession where the state does not invest money for 35 years, and the only guarantee given is the number of vehicles, which clearly will not be activated within the first three months.

Dear colleague, first, you need to sit down with a colleague who is very informed about these issues. I would suggest that Jorida Tabaku inform you a bit; I have no issue with that, but since you are someone who knows these matters well, let dear Elda know what a concession is and what a Public-Private Partnership is.

Then, the object for which this interpellation was requested today states that “the private concessionaire that manages the National Road has placed some concrete barriers at the entrance and exit of the city of Milot, which prevent the free access of citizens to this road. This has prevented citizens from moving freely on foot; they have to move on foot or by vehicle on the National Road, as well as damaged the condition of businesses in the area, which have been forced to close their activities. As reported by the media, the residents of the area have repeatedly raised concerns about the blocking of the road axis, called Rruga e Kombit, and the citizens of Milot want an explanation for this. However, these concerns have fallen on deaf ears, etc., etc., and then we continue, “On the other hand, with the completion of the works for the construction of the Thumana-Kashar segment, it has been noticed that in the area of Thumana, the exit of the old road that allows the connection with the town of Milot has been closed, etc., etc., and there is no question anywhere about the fiscal space available in 2019 for the Student Pact and nothing else.

I will respond to your inquiry, colleague, but I also see no harm in providing you with some clarification on the concepts of concession and public-private partnership (PPP).

Interpellations are one of the organic duties of a deputy, and as a deputy of the Albanian Parliament, and not just the Minister of Infrastructure and Energy, I feel responsible to clarify for my opposition colleagues, as well as all other interested groups who might be interested in this issue.

In the case of highways, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy and the Albanian Government can today proudly state that Albania has begun to build its road infrastructure with the parameters and requirements of the European Union, as befits a country that has now started its journey to join the European Union. We must keep in mind that today Albania leads the lists of tourist destinations as one of the countries with the greatest interest from foreign visitors, and undoubtedly, no one can deny that infrastructure is one of the main pillars of the country’s economic development, particularly the tourism sector, which today is undoubtedly the main contributor to the country’s economy.

We would not have this influx of tourists if the Tirana International Airport had not been transformed from a concession that simply generated money going abroad towards China into one of the airports that handles over 1 million passengers a month, accommodates, and departs 5,000 planes on average per month. It would not have been possible to increase investments in tourism, hospitality, or other accommodation units if entire road axes that connect cities connected the Albanian coastline, or the high mountains had not been built, if the Vlora bypass, the Fier bypass, the Arbëri Road, or many other roads had not been constructed. It would not have been possible today to access the remote mountainous areas, not only by vehicles but also by campers and many other vehicles coming from all corners of Europe to enjoy the beauty of Albania.

All these things place us, the Albanian Government, and particularly the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy, before the responsibility of designing with full capacities and with road safety criteria and parameters axes that are not simply national axes, as we were used to calling them, but are Category A highways, part of the European Corridors. Albania was isolated for many years during the communist regime, and after its fall, we remained outside all European Corridors, unlike our neighbors, who, despite belonging to the communist bloc, were still part of the European Corridors, unlike Albania.

It required a significant effort with the European Commission and the European Parliament to include the Blue Corridor, which includes the Thumanë-Kashar segment, and Corridor VIII as integral parts of the Pan-European Corridors. This effort came from all socialist deputies and ministers who spared no opportunity to ensure that Albania was part of these corridors. This is not just about infrastructure but also about the free movement of goods, economic development, and the tourist development of countries.

Today, the Blue Corridor, which connects Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, and Greece, passes directly through Albania, and we now have the first segment of 21 kilometers, the Thumanë-Kashar segment, which is built according to Category A parameters and will serve as a model for all future highways. You know that we have already completed the bids for other segments, such as the segment from Thumanë to Milot, and the Milot-Balldren segment eagerly awaited by the people of Lezhë and Shkodër, and certainly all the southern segments. The entirely new segment starting from Kashar and ending at the Rrogozhinë interchange, at Lekaj, and from Lekaj to the Fier bypass will describe Albania from north to south in the Western Lowlands with a Category A Corridor.

Certainly, when building highways of this level, there are issues that arise for communities, as these highways require high safety standards to be certified as Category A. They require designed interchanges and not entry and exit points, as communities rightly would prefer to exit where they were used to, but these are no longer rural roads or simple national routes.

To address the request of the group of deputies for this interpellation, I will focus on the first point, specifically Thumanë-Kashar, by describing all the issues raised. I mentioned that due to road safety requirements and maintaining the certification level of the road, there have been numerous interventions, which have been public and transparent. This project was designed by the WBIF many years ago. We had a tender that took place during the pandemic without success, and we had to reopen it after the pandemic. It has certainly been a project discussed in forums, at various tables, and has never been secret to anyone.

However, it must be said that the Thumanë-Kashar segment did not have four interchanges, esteemed. Thumanë-Kashar has two interchanges that are part of the project, while the study included three interchanges, including the one in Gramzë, which I will explain. The two Kashar interchanges are constructed, and there is no change from the initial project approved by the Albanian Road Authority Technical Council, referring to the Rinas entrance and the Kashar entrance. Meanwhile, the interchange that will address and resolve the Thumanë issue and consequently the problems for Fushë-Krujë and Krujë, which are located above Thumanë, is the Thumanë interchange, which is part of the project that will continue, from Thumanë to Milot and is only 4 kilometers away from the existing overpass today, since there is an overpass in Gramzë. The latter is a provisional solution, because I heard it was not resolved, and I remembered a song about how we were not defeated by American imperialism, nor by storms and hurricanes. I do not know who came to defeat the citizens of Thumanë and I don’t know who was affected by your late-night meetings. I’m sorry, but I work all day. I am someone who starts the day very early and finishes very late, so 6 p.m. or 8 p.m. is not late for me, but I understand that for you, 8 p.m. must be terrible.

So, whether it’s late at night or early in the morning, I have met with the residents of Thumanë. I have listened to them and certainly provided solutions, because unlike what you think and what you say, “Rama’s Government” has ears to listen and eyes to see and the greatest desire to address community requests, while certainly understanding that the interest of an individual cannot prevail over the interests of communities, regions, or the entire country.

We have provided a provisional solution to the requests of the Thumanë residents, which you should know because you said untrue things, so it is good to clarify even though it is not the subject of your request. All that you mentioned is an addition that you were told to say, but you are not even aware of it. There are alternative routes, and that video you posted to listen, copying your supreme leader, who used to post videos through microphones, to clarify, does not change a word. It is a principle that all roads built with tolls must have alternative routes, and as we speak, Thumanë has an alternative route. Do you know what the request is?! That the alternative route is long and the alternative route is not in good condition. And this is true. But all alternative routes are long, and if you wanted examples, I took two similar highways: one is Naples-Caserta, where via Highway A1 the length is 29.3 kilometers from one city to the other, while via the alternative route it is 37.5 kilometers. I also took an example from Greek highways, Trikala-Ioannina, where via Highway E92 the road from one city to the other is 126 kilometers, while via the alternative route it is 138 kilometers.

So, there is an alternative route, and it is not true that there isn’t one; it is not true that I have violated what I said, as it is verifiable, and the residents of Thumanë will tell you this if you want, but they do not want to use that long route, and they are right. Why shouldn’t there be a shorter route? And there will be a shorter route; there will be a dedicated interchange at the entrance of Thumanë, which is part of the Thumanë-Milot project that will start immediately. We are in the phase of signing this contract.

However, in those late hours when I meet people and you are concerned about late hours like 6, 7, or 8 p.m., and I do not understand why it is so late to meet with the residents of Thumanë, we have clarified that provisionally they will access the existing Gramzë overpass with a dedicated ramp that will be built for them in the coming weeks. Thus resolving the issue until we have the roundabout and complete overpass at the entrance of Thumanë, at which point the provisional solution will cease to be in effect. However, we have also agreed with the residents of Thumanë on something else. If they find it reasonable, but there must also be an agreement with the community as there are some houses near the Gramzë overpass, we can consider turning the Gramzë overpass into a permanent interchange in the future, giving Thumanë not only the access clearly outlined in the project from Thumanë to Milot, but also an additional access 4 kilometers further, which is the Gramzë overpass, which will be used provisionally for the time being.

I would like to return for a moment. Since the Thumanë issue has been exhausted, to be honest, I would like to return for just a moment to the first part of the question regarding the Nation Road and the Milot section, which is closed with Jersey barriers. It was done due to safety parameters. Keep in mind that the area we are discussing has been a source of accidents.

I have requested data from the police state and specifically from the road police and have received information precisely for that segment. From 2018 to 2021, we had 15 fatal accidents and 22 accidents with material damage. Meanwhile, since the intervention to increase road safety parameters was made, by closing every exit—imagine that every business directly accessed the highway—since 2022 until 2024, we have had no fatal accidents and only 4 accidents with minor injuries. Therefore, if there are still questions about why this deviation is necessary, this is the Nation Road. The closure was made, and there is a parallel road, the yellow road you see, which is only 720 meters. While the data says this clear: before this intervention on this road, we had 15 fatalities and 22 accidents with material damage; today, we have zero fatalities and only four accidents with material damage.

This is why the intervention was made on this road. This is why safety parameters will be maintained on all new routes in the Republic of Albania, and for inherited routes, there will be occasional interventions to mitigate and eliminate black spots and certainly to improve safety conditions. We all need to agree that infrastructure must now meet all European standards and parameters.

Visitors coming to the Republic of Albania, including those who have recently surpassed the 10 million mark, are from European countries or other places, and they require that proper conditions are met to visit our country. Since we want to consolidate tourism and develop our country, we need to respond to road infrastructure with the same standards.

Thank you very much!

I gave facts and arguments, but you made propaganda. I’m sorry you forgot Miloti. I had to read the object you asked me about in the interview. I’m clarifying that I see you’re unclear regarding Order No. 42.

Dear Deputy, Thumanë-Kashar was a project that, based on a contract from 2018, was designed as a public-private partnership project. At the beginning of 2019, I held a press conference and declared that the available fiscal space—believe that you understand what fiscal space is, as it refers to money, not just cash—was deemed by the Albanian Government to be allocated for the university pact. Moreover, what we have done for Albanian students can be referenced from the entire project, which was embraced by all students at that time, and there were open forums where projects implemented were discussed with full transparency.

There is no written rule that requires us to ask you whether the Albanian Government, at a certain moment, has a different priority and decides to allocate the fiscal space of a road or a road transport program to a higher cause, as was the case for students. So, I believe you are clear on this point, as it has been public.

Later, based on an Administrative Court decision, a long negotiation took place for several months. Everything documented is in the archives of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy between the PPP contract winner and the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy to convert that contract from a PPP contract, where the state was required to pay for road construction, to a concession contract funded by the concessionaire themselves. The state guarantees the minimum vehicle traffic, and I tell you from what we have seen, only in the first three months will it never be necessary to engage the guarantees set out in the concession contract. This addresses all your questions.

Regarding propaganda, we do not engage in propaganda, madam, because we do not have time for that, as we are busy with work. We build roads, airports, ports, schools, and kindergartens, and all these are tangible for citizens. You handle the words—complaints, mudslinging, and all other slanders. God has divided these roles. We do the work; you do the talking.

Thank you very much!