Video / “Foreign architects do not come for substandard work” — Rama: Absurd to say our projects evict people by force

This Thursday, Prime Minister Edi Rama spoke at the presentation of the competition for another tower expected to be added to Tirana, precisely where “Taiwan” stands today.

Rama said the government does not carry out projects by forcibly evicting people from their homes, as is alleged.

The head of government also added that foreign architects do not come to Albania to do things outside the standards, things they cannot do in their own countries.

Rama’s speech:

“The absurdity that in our projects we forcibly evict people from their homes to impose projects that international architects carry out without regard for people. An unjustified lack of respect for personalities, for people of a world where there is more sense of responsibility than among their commentators. Forcible eviction from a home to develop a private project has never happened in Albania for any reason. And in no case has any legitimate owner been prevented from exercising his freedom to develop. We have challenges from time to time with occupiers of other people’s properties who are part of the legalization process. We have never taken sides between the owner or the developer if they have not guaranteed that the person found there is given a rental contract for a set number of years, paid by the developer.

What is then the height of this approach is that foreign architects come to Albania to do art-washing bulldozer politics and to carry out things that are outside the standards. The truth is entirely different. We have constantly had discussions about regulation, about obstacles in urban development; this does not mean that in Albania we build without rules. Or that we do something unacceptable elsewhere. In fact, there is something very clear to me in this whole aggressive approach to this process: jealousy. The jealousy of mediocre people and of people who cling to nationalism, to the passport, to the fact that they are part of the local community, and do not cling to the profession, to arguments and to the possibility of being competitive. There are many young architects and professionals who are part of this transformation. This makes Albania not the country where local architects are excluded, but where they grow professionally alongside architects who are at the highest level of thought and work. Today Albania and Tirana are the largest open-air university. Building towers is so complex and requires so many professionals that we must admit we do not have the capacity and knowledge to do this. We have seen the attempts. We are not dealing with a community of businessmen, but with a community of knowledge.”