Flood damage calculation starts

TIRANA, Jan. 20 – The government started the calculation of the damage caused by the recent flood in the northwestern Shkodra and Lezha districts.
The government started the creation of the working groups to evaluate the damage using satellite pictures and other tools in a transparent procedure.
Prime Minister Sali Berisha said that the government had the required funding to compensate the damage of houses, other public buildings, livestock and anything else.
At the same time all institutions are asked to reallocate funding many of which will be used for the flood-hit area.
Experts from the central institutions will be used for such a process. They will be accompanied by the local staff during the daily work. The groups will be led from a regional leadership.
It was not made known how long the evaluation process would last.
Meanwhile some 5,000 hectares and about 500 houses continue to remain under or surrounded from water in Shkodra, and some 1,600 persons still evacuated
Authorities are continuing to pump the water from the area after the discharge from the three Drini River hydropower stations have stooped since a week of dry weather.