Club Med should cope with renewed protests

TIRANA, Nov 9 – French touristic giant Club Med and its local Albanian partner Riviera sh.p.k had to face with renewed protests from Albanian residents of a countryside area at the Kakome bay in south Albania where they intend to build of a luxury touristic resort.
They intend to invest in three years 38 million euro for the tourist resort with 400 villas but they have been facing continues legal disputes with the local people.
In early 2005 Club Med and Riviera were awarded a long-term lease on the development of a resort on the Albanian coast of the Ionian Sea, near the village of Kakome. The start of construction was delayed due to land ownership claims. That situation continues to remain unchanged despite a court ruling earlier this year that cleared the path to the project’s implementation.
Government has said that the land plot is state owned property but villagers deny that.
Last week Club Med tried to begin the works, but some 1,000 villagers blocked the road.
The French hospitality company said this summer it had reached an agreement with local villagers, who claimed ownership of the land, to become stakeholders in the project.
In September, the Agency for the Restitution and Compensation of Property denied the claims of ownership from the villagers as not valid.
The tourist resort will have an area of 700,000 square meters with a capacity of 700 beds.