SP and DP compete for roads

The opposition declared that they would vote in favor the agreement for the construction of the roads, but with the arrival of Berisha on the Parliament floor, the discussion turned into a race for the infrastructure construction.

Berisha declared that his government is building thousands of kilometers of roads, but the Socialist MP, Erjon Brace, declared that the Socialist government in 1997 has found only 5 kilometers of paved roads.

PM Berisha: Let’s vote it unanimously, because we have more than 10.000 km of constructed roads, and the opposition has voted against the construction of every km.

MP Erjon Braçe: No MP on this room has ever voted against the agreements that are being implemented today by the Albanian Development Fund. The only agreement that we haven’t voted was the one that passed here 1 month ago; 19 million more EUR in the Levan-Vlore segment, paid directly for the reasons that you well know and that is related with the banal subcontractor, but a client of the former Minister of Transport, Lulzim Basha, and a client of the Prime Minister who publishes books only for his own pleasure. I am repeating what I told Berisha here: I don’t vote on Parliament so that yuio can steal. These MPs will not vote the personal publisher of Sali Berisha.

The debate then focused on the infrastructure in south. The Socialist Parliamentary Group leader, Gramoz Ruci, listed the southern roads that have received no investment from Berisha’s government, with projects that have undergone tenders since when the Socialists were in power before 2005.

Gramoz Ruçi: Lushnje-Fier, planned and financed by the SP. The only responsibility that you have is its quality, the expenses and the delays.

Sokol Olldashi: If the southern part of Albania is the one that you see today, it’s because we have invested, and not you. You have seen it as a cow that you can milk for electoral profits.

The Agreement for the construction of the Fier By-Pass foresees the 35 million EUR financing from the BEI, which is one part of the project. The other part is financed by EBRD with 35 million EUR. The Italian Cooperation and the Albanian Government have contributed with respectively 1.8 and 9.4 million EUR.

The second financial agreement that passed in Parliament was the ratification of the financial agreement of the Fier-Tepelena road, with the funds expected to be transferred from November 2011 to December 2012.

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