TIRANA, Aug. 4 – Tirana’s municipal government, under new management as of this week, has suspended issuing new construction permits for a year, as the new mayor charts a new urban development plan in cooperation with the central government.
Mayor Erion Veliaj, a member of Prime Minister Edi Rama’s Socialist Party, said there would also be an audit of permits issued by the previous municipal administration, which was led by the opposition Democratic Party leader, Lulzim Basha.
“This is an effort that will work under a timetable. We anticipate that within a year, Tirana will have a proper urban development plan,” Veliaj said, adding there was an extra challenge involved since the new municipality has increase drastically in size under the territorial reform which merged surrounding rural and urban communes with the city to create a new municipality where nearly one in three Albanians now live.
The mayor made the comments at a media event where the Municipality of Tirana signed a cooperation agreement with the Ministry of Urban Development.
Veliaj said that a new era of cooperation has come between the local and central governments, both under Socialist management.
The previous municipal administration had accused Prime Minister Rama of blocking key municipal projects for political reasons.
Minister of Urban Development Englantina Gjermeni said the central government aimed “to end the chaos” in urban development throughout Albania, including the capital.
