The US Ambassador, Donald Lu, spoke in front of a conference in Tirana,
addressing the local officials and asking them to use funds for their
citizens. The local politicians were surprised to hear them use this
direct request.
“Dear Mayors, if you have arrived here on black Mercedes, BMW or Audi cars, you must think that this is not the way how voters want their money to be used. If your office is prettier than the bread shop or the post office, you must think if this money could have had a better use in schools”, Ambassador Lu declared.
The US diplomat in Tirana brought the example of avoiding excessive spending.
“I value the Mayor of Tirana. He was the first one to refuse a Black Mercedes of the Municipality. Instead, he rented a small gray Ford Fiesta”, Lu underlined.
The US government has given 12.8 million USD for the local government. The Tirana government was reminded that the territorial reform was not made to win the elections, but to increase services to citizens.
“Now the government has the opportunity to prove this”, the US ambassador declared.
The US Ambassador asked the government to invest directly to the local government, since the Regional Development Fund, he said, leaves suspicions that the funds will be used for the local units of the US and the SMI.
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