Lajme flash
Billions wasted/ Abusive Development Fund tenders destroy Saranda
2026-10-25 13:43:00 / EKONOMI&SOCIALE
Billions wasted on investments that not only do not improve infrastructure, but have turned into financial pits. This is the story of the tenders of the Albanian Development Fund in Saranda.
The polished tourist postcard that officials and government agencies try to sell to the world every summer is melting under the first autumn downpours in the coastal city this year.
After the lights of the season went out, the coastal city has been confronted with the harsh reality: a stream of public investments worth millions of euros, procured by the ADF and the Municipality, which either do not work, or are so poorly designed that they are turning into a nightmare for the lives of residents.
This is a repeated story of chronic failure, where taxpayer money is wasted on short-term and abusive projects.
The endless ordeal of the stone mosaic
It doesn't take an environmental expert or a civil engineer to understand the failure of the new stone mosaic roads in Saranda. Almost every two months, newly completed segments of these roads are opened up, the stones removed, the subgrade excavated, and repaired again in an absurdly endless cycle.
The citizens of Sarandë have ironically dubbed this cobblestone "a mosaic of failure," as they see year after year the same noise of construction work blocking the streets as soon as the tourists leave. The questions about the quality of the foundation and the supervision of the works by the ADF are serious, while the cost of these repairs remains a financial black hole.
Bus Terminal: The 1.5 kilometer investment with a leaking roof.
Trumpeted as the magic solution to the traffic chaos at the entrance to the city, the new Bus Terminal in Qafë Gjashtë has turned into an infrastructural absurdity.
Just three months after the grand pre-season inauguration, rainwater has penetrated the structure, flowing freely between the electric lighting spots on the roof, creating a serious risk to the lives of passengers.
But this is only an aesthetic scandal. On the functional side, the opposition and transport operators denounce that the terminal does not possess a safety and inspection certificate. Intercity buses cannot exit directly onto the main road, but are forced to make an additional 1.5 kilometers to the roundabout just to turn back.
This detour has created massive difficulties for the elderly coming from rural areas and has ultimately blocked traffic at the entrance to Saranda, doing the opposite of what the project promised.
"Ghost" Fountain in Friendship Park
In the city center, located in Friendship Park, is another monument to the misuse of funds: the new fountain. This decorative accessory has not been put into operation for a single day.
It stands like a dried-up concrete ruin in the middle of a flowerbed, proving that projects in Saranda are often designed just to sign tender papers, without a second's thought about their operational maintenance.
Sewage out of the question: 3.6 million euros for asphalt, but sewage is left on the road
The most serious wound that shames the city remains the sewage network. Whenever it rains on Saranda, the existing system immediately gives up: sewage mixes with rainwater, the manholes burst and overflow onto the road and the main Boulevard, becoming an epidemiological risk and visual infection for residents.
Despite this emergency crisis, the logic of public investments continues to remain "above the surface". Only recently, the Albanian Development Fund announced the tender with a limited fund of around 273.4 million lek excluding VAT (approximately 3.6 million euros) for the requalification of the "Idriz Alidhima" road, a 2.4 km long segment.
The project foresees the renovation of asphalt, sidewalks and lighting, but the sewage network is not included in this massive reconstruction. The government invests millions to beautify the street facade, while leaving the underground to rot./Kapital
Po ndodh...
ide
TRENDING 
shërbime
- POLICIA129
- POLICIA RRUGORE126
- URGJENCA112
- ZJARRFIKESJA128