World Bank loan supports rehabilitation of roads at tourist sites
Related Articles
TIRANA, April 26 – The World Bank has approved a US$50 million loan to finance the rehabilitation of about 55 km of regional and local roads, bringing better and safer connectivity to tourist areas home to around 80,000 residents.
The 20-year soft loan is part of a regional and local roads connectivity project for Albania to improve access to selected agricultural and tourism centers and strengthen their municipalities’ capacity to manage their road assets, says the World Bank.
The first-year program includes three segments known for their importance on tourism and agriculture development such as Fier-Seman, Pogradec-Tushemisht, and Qafà« Thore-Theth roads.
The lake town of Pogradec, southeastern Albania and the Theth mountain tourism site in northern Albania, are two of Albania’s major destinations.
“The new project will focus on prioritization of interventions with higher economic impact that complement productive sectors, particularly in agriculture and tourism,” says Maryam Salim, the World Bank Country Manager for Albania.
“Tourism development will benefit by improving road access to existing and potential tourism destinations. The project also helps the integration of agricultural producers into agri-food value,” she adds.
The World Bank says about half of the regional and local network is categorized as being in poor or very poor condition and the existing condition of regional and local road networks is not able to serve the emerging tourism industry, hindering the development of the agricultural sector.
The main Tirana-Durres highway is also in desperate condition, forcing drivers to take the fast lane in order to avoid potholes.
Albania has one of Europe’s highest death tolls from road accidents with an estimated 15 fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants.
