The idea of creating paid parking for 230 Tirana streets would have added to the economic burden of residents at a time of an economic crisis, Mayor Basha says
TIRANA, Feb. 19 – Tirana Mayor Lulzim Basha, who also leads the main opposition Democratic Party, said this week he would not proceed any further in a proposal to install metered parking across the Albanian capital with the help of private investors.
The idea of creating paid parking 230 Tirana streets had been received with a lot of negative reaction by residents, Basha said he was acting on that feedback by shelving the idea for five years.
The move comes just ahead of the mayoral elections in the summer, in which Basha has said he won’t run so he can focus entirely on his job as opposition leader.
“Tirana currently taxes 5 percent of the public parking spaces, and under our proposal, 15 percent of the parking spots available around the city would be taxed, which means 85 percent of the parking spots available would remain free of charge,” Basha said.
When the proposal reached the media, however, there was a lot of uproar with residents, which saw they would have to pay for all key parking areas downtown.
But it was all quiet on the political front, where business interests appeared to have convinced all sides to support the deal. Such a proposal would need three fifths of votes of the city council, where the Socialists hold the majority and Basha’s Democrats are a minority. Some council members had been vocal against the move.
Analysts said Basha’s timing for the proposal could not have been worst ahead of the municipal elections, as the move was very unpopular and could negatively affect his party’s image.
In his public appearance Basha said he had decided to listen to the people’s voice on the project, indicating he was not bowing to pressure from business interests in the case, although he did not give details.
He said that they had decided to postpone such an idea of at least five years, as the country was “in the economic crisis due to the Socialist government’s mismanagement.”
“In the light of the current economic crisis, we decided that this not the right time to further financially burden Tirana residents and others who use the city’s streets,” Basha said.
Local media reported some of the details of the proposal, which would have awarded a 35-year concession to the same company that owns Albania’s most power media outlet Top Media – which has served as a major supporter for Prime Minister Edi Rama — and which would act with other business actors with ties to both sides of the political spectrum. As a result, the proposal would almost certainly been passed by the city council, despite public anger.
Tirana has a major parking problem, particularly in the city center, were grandiose plans to build underground parking never materialized.
The proposed system would allow for the city administration to make it more expensive for people to park, by charging about $1 an hour that could be charged electronically to one’s cell phone.
