TIRANA, Nov. 1 – After slashing the number of municipalities, creating fewer and larger urban-rural ones, officials are still ironing out issues with the mergers.
These concerns were the focus of a meeting of Prime Minister Edi Rama with local officials from across Albania this week.
Rama said the administrative division is already proving its efficiency. He also insisted that it was not done for political purposes but to follow international guidelines as the country is in the process of integration with the European Union.
The main object of changing the country’s administrative structure was to cut expenses and increase efficiency of the local management, according to Rama.
The reform also aims to give more powers to the local authorities, a process that is monitored and pushed through by the central government, which says it will also help in the fight against corruption, nepotism and chaos in financial management of local governments.
In a significant move with these elections, half of the local councils are made up of women, something which Rama said should make the country proud.
An important part of the local governments’ work will also be promoting agriculture and better management of the rural land.
The new local authorities need to increase their capacities and operate independently when they ask for funding for different projects, central officials say.
They should also improve their management of the water supply public companies under their governance.
