Fiks Fare program on Top Channel denounced a scandal with alienation and overlapping of properties in one of the mountain tourist areas of northern Albania, the village of Valbonë in Tropoja.
The actions of state institutions are reported to have brought dozens of residents of that area into conflict.
Although the properties are inherited from generation to generation, there are still overlaps on the official maps, since officials and powerful people have “put their hands” in those properties, alienating them.
Hajredin Selimaj complained to the newsroom of the investigative show: “We are 4 generations inheriting the property. We have not had a conflict with anyone. I got a bank loan to develop this property and the house.
“This property is inherited from my father, I was born and raised in this house”, says the 58-year-old.
He claims that in 2009, the Cadastre of Tropoja issued a certificate of ownership to his family for the area of 3370 square meters.
“With this certificate, I got the idea to develop it as a tourist inn. We had no money, we were poor. I got this arable land that I have registered and got a loan of 35 million. I put this property as collateral in the bank”, says Hajredini.
He further claims that he made a regular contract with the notary, presented with a layout plan, map and everything else, but the authorities did not certify it.
“I go to the Municipality of Tropoja and take the letter they gave me, that that property is mine. With this letter, I go to the Cadastre again and they tell me that a neighbor has moved onto a part of my property. They had given him 1300 m2 into my property. The person who benefited from it is called Sali Selimaj”, he says, while clarifying that his property has accurate data.
“I don’t know what maneuver they did. The neighbor’s property has taken over our property. It is alienated. We have the origin, have not touched anyone’s. The documents show that this property has been divided in half. All these actions were done in the Cadastre. We have not had any conflicts before with the neighbors. That fence has been there for centuries. The neighbor took the certificate back. The person who did this did not do it for the best for us or the neighbor”, concludes the citizen.
Together with Hajredini, Fiks Fare journalists go to Tropoja City Hall. Muhamet Kurçana, head of the Agricultural Office and surveyor in this municipality, says that “citizen Hajredin has a certified arable property with an area of 3370 square meters”.
He further claims that this asset came from the ASIG maps they have in the computer system. Journalists ask him if the properties in Valbona are inherited, while he says that “the whole area has the same problems, errors on the maps”.
The solution, according to him, is to make a new survey plan, since these overlaps are bringing the residents of that area into conflict.
Fiks Fare asked the cadastre of Tropoja, now with an office in Kukës, for information about this overlap. After a few days, this office brought an answer clarifying that Mr. Hajdredin’s property was certified in 2009. But surprisingly, the neighbor Sali Selimaj was also certified on the same property.
In the same response, the Cadastre says that the property registration procedure by Mr. Sali Selimaj (neighbor of the informant) has been seized by the Tropoja Prosecutor’s Office, as there are suspicions that it was forged. But, until now, this charge has not received a decision, causing citizens to go round the state offices, for a property that they have inherited for generations.
Top Channel
