Rreshen-Kalimash road link very expensive

TIRANA, Oct 6 – The Rreshen-Kalimash road link, an issue of contest between the governing Democratic Party and the opposition, will cost more than one billion Euros, much higher than what it was supposed at the beginning.
That was reported from the local media referring to a report made by two experts as asked from the prosecutor general’s office that is investigating an alleged corruption case.
The report of the experts said it would cost 1.023 billion Euros from 418 million Euros it was signed at the beginning. It said the higher cost came from subcontractors that set higher prices for their material and work.
Albania has also got a 240 million euro loan from commercial banks for the Rreshen-Kalimash project, the most important part of the 170-kilometer highway from Durres to Kosova which when finished will reduce travel times to Kosova from six hours to two.
The U.S.-Turkish Bechtel International Inc., based in San Francisco, California, and Istanbul-based Enka joint venture signed a 418 million euro contract with Albania in 2006 to build a 60-kilometer road segment, including a 6-kilometer tunnel, by June 2009.
The road will run from the port city of Durres, 35 kilometers west of the capital, Tirana, to the town of Kukes, 200 kilometers northeast of Tirana, and then to the Morina border crossing point.
Opposition Socialist Party’s leader Edi Rama also wondered why the prosecutors had not called for questioning Foreign Minister Lulzim Basha, then transport minister. Basha was lifted the parliamentary immunity last December.