TIRANA, Feb. 18 – The 100 Villages program recently launched by the Ministry of Culture will start off its “integrated development of rural areas” in four villages containing natural and cultural monuments in Gjirokastra, South Albania, and where villagers say infrastructural and economic help is necessary.
One of the villages is Europe’s once cannabis capital, the Lazarat village that has lost its shine and lavish lifestyle after a police crackdown in mid-2014 and which, along with villages Zhulat, Dhoksati and those surrounding the archeological Antigonea site, will undergo an infrastructural upgrade in a bid to make them agribusiness – oriented by supporting local production.
The Voice of America spoke to the area’s population, people hanging through agribusiness and dependant on the KordhocÑ‘ Bridge – a cultural monument built in the beginning of the 18th century – which risks falling apart due to lack of maintenance.
“The bridge was built on wooden legs, which seem to be breaking. Many mayors and politicians have said they’ll fix it, but nothing has been done so far,” farmer Devoll Gjolleshi told the VoA. “The river has gone out of its bed as well, and has come close to the land that feeds us. We pay taxes for the land, but the land is being taken away day by day. If the bridge also gets destroyed, everything’s done,” he added.
Gjirokastra’s Deputy Mayor Vangjel Muco also said the maintenance projects for these villages will go beyond an agricultural upgrade, to an infrastructural development that will serve the development of integrated tourism, mentioning here the potential of the Antigonea ancient cultural site and the natural sites surrounding Dhoksat village.
He said that, if upgraded, these villages can be an asset to the already hundreds of tourists that visit Albania’s south to see Gjirokaster, a UNESCO-protected city museum, by providing a network of sites offering not just culture, but also nature, tradition, biological culinary experiences, etc.
“The city of Gjirokastra needs support not just through the development of historic tourism, but also other touristic activities the region offers,” Muco said.
While local units have already begun document preparation for the project’s financing, concerns over the big number of youth leaving Southern villages, especially in the last couple of years, have also began to mount, as this trend creates gaps in the quality of touristic services offered by the locals.
As previously reported by INSTAT data, Gjirokastra, along with Dibra and Berat, are leaders among the country’s cities where population numbers are steadily dropping.
In the ministry’s official webpage, the 100 Villages project, which will be implemented over a three year time frame, lists the development of social and human capital as a priority in addition to economic development and infrastructure upgrade.
This includes professional training for youth and women that will serve the touristic and cultural needs of the region and possibly address the migration problem by offering more initiatives for Gjirokastra’s youth to stay in their hometown.
