TIRANA, Jan. 15 – One year after a court ordered the partial suspension of works at a controversial revitalization project in Durres following the discovery of some ancient Roman and Ottoman-era ruins, the local municipality has agreed to change its initial project and preserve the finds.
The decision comes as the Durres Administrative Court is still examining a request by civil society and cultural heritage activists pushing to cancel the “Veliera” project, a luxury veil-like square in front of the country’s biggest port of Durres that opponents say risks burying ancient ruins in concrete next to the landmark Durres castle and Venetian tower.
The €6 million government-funded project has been held back by the suspension of works in a 300 m2 area which the National Archaeology Council ruled in July 2017, the Municipality of Durres has to preserve and integrate into the Veliera project by changing the initial project.
“The square gave a solution to the heavy traffic, it solved a big problem such as flooding, but has been in ruins for more than a year,” Durres Mayor Vangjush Dako has told reporters, worried over the negative effects the prolongation of the trial has had on local residents and tourism.
“The Court must provide a solution through a decision and our municipality will respect every decision regarding this square,” said Dako.
Some ancient Roman ruins, an Ottoman era building, a cannon and some catapult stones have been discovered during the ‘Veliera’ construction works.
“The revised project is the same to the initial one, but includes the archeological finds, putting them on display and making them accessible,” added the mayor who has been under fire by heritage experts, protesting and accusing him of burying ancient ruins in concrete in a key downtown area.
The €6 million ‘Veliera’ project will be a 12,000 m2 square with a giant 2,000 m2 veil on it.
The project has been criticized for its high cost at a time when Durres suffers prolonged tap water cuts, lacks a waste treatment plant with waste being burned in the open air just outside the city and faces frequent flash flooding due to lack of proper sewer systems, hampering its key tourism industry.
Socialist Party Mayor Vangjush Dako, now in his third consecutive term as Durres Mayor, has often been publicly accused of increasing concrete areas in Durres due to alleged interests in a concrete company where he was a shareholder before taking office as Durres Mayor in 2007.
The Veliera project comes after Durres reconstructed its central square and archaeology museum in the past few years, making it more attractive to tourists.
The new bigger municipality of Durres following the 2015 administrative reform has a resident population of 175,000 people and includes five former coastal municipalities and communes.
The city’s population more than doubles in summer with dozens of thousands of local and foreign holidaymakers.
Founded in the 7th century BC under the name Epidamnos, Durres has been continuously inhabited for 27 centuries and is one of the oldest cities in Albania. The city boasts a Roman amphitheater of the 2nd century A.D, one of the largest in the Balkan.
