Four years after the earthquake, thousands of residents in Durrës remain at a crossroads

In district 12 of the city of Durrës, Zenel Zani opens the iron door of the building severely damaged by the earthquake of November 26, 2019, while complaining that nothing has changed in four years.

"We are thinking of connecting water and electricity ourselves and returning to our homes. It is dangerous, but if we are evicted from where we are renting, we would rather live here," he said.

The pensioner lived before the earthquake on the fifth floor of building no. 15, which is located very close to the city's agro-food market, together with his wife.

After the earthquake, he settled in a rented apartment near the "Train Station", but due to problems with the rent bonus, he is thinking of returning to the unrepaired building.

" Here, everything is like the first day of the earthquake, even worse that the cables and watches were stolen, that we would have returned here in time ," complains the pensioner.

Four years after the devastating earthquake of November 26, the consequences are still felt by thousands of families who were affected by the natural disaster. According to the municipality's data, 2,500 families continue to appear on the list of those treated with rent bonus, as their apartments have not been returned to habitable condition. But bonus payments have been blocked for months.

" In March 2023, these 2,500 families were treated for the last time with rental bonus and then no distribution was made ," said the Durres Municipality in a response to BIRN.

Since the earthquake, the families have faced delays in the distribution of the rental bonus, but this time the wait has exceeded all limits.

"Every day I go to the municipal office, I ask the information office if the bonus has passed, I was there today as well, but nothing, nothing," said Zani.

The municipality justified itself that the bonus payments had been stopped because the funds had not been made available by the central government.

" The Municipality of Durrës has requested funds for subsidizing the rent for the families affected by the earthquake to the Ministry of Finance and Economy with the letter 30/4 dated 18.07.2023 and has not received any response on the continuation of the payment of funds," declared the Municipality .

The non-payment of the rental bonus has created endless economic hardship for families affected by the earthquake. Many of them, unable to afford the rents without the help of the bonus, have returned to live in the unrepaired buildings, or which are being repaired.

In the district number 17 of Durrës, in the building located near the old people's asylum, the damaged building with damage level DS2, continues to be the same as on the first day after the earthquake. The walls in the courtyards of the palace are damaged, in some places the bricks are clearly missing and other parts are stripped of plaster.

Fadil Kaloçi, a resident of this building, has returned to live there, although he does not hide his fear, especially on days with stormy weather with wind and rain.

"You are watching it yourself. Nothing is done from the outside. We are also afraid of the wind, lest any brick be detached from the more damaged floors and take our lives, but what can we do, they don't say anything about when they will repair the building," said Kaloçi .

Despite the danger, the man who lives in one of the apartments of the palace with his four family members, has not been disappointed with the decision to return to his home.

" One month's bonus was given three, not four. The house I rented in the beach area was unaffordable because the price went up,” he said.

" I didn't even think twice, I took the five lek they gave us for interior repairs...so I did what I could and put my head inside ," he added.

Families left waiting for damage repairs to their homes or waiting for the installment of the rent bonus to pass have tried everything from endless letters to the authorities, institutional requests and protests, but solutions seem distant.

" They made fun of us. First they defined the building as DS3, then they said it will collapse because there was a risk, then they said it will be repaired because it is DS4 damage, but until now, look, nothing has been done", Zenel Zani told BIRN .

In addition to the damage from the earthquake, the building where he lived faced raids and thefts.

" We gather here every morning because we have the sweat of a wasted life. But we can't do anything, because we have nothing left. We collected some lek and made an iron door on the first floor to save the booty from the caboose, they stole all the watches ", complains Zani.

Many buildings damaged by the earthquake four years ago have been left out of the municipality's plans and projects for repair, for which the municipality of the coastal city said it remains waiting for design funds.

According to the Municipality, 83 buildings with a DS4 level of damage are awaiting funding for design, while another 6 DS4 buildings remain awaiting funding for structural reinforcement. In the process of reconstruction, according to the Municipality of Durrës, there are 73 buildings rated as DS4 and 101 individual houses with the same degree of damage.

In the city's district number 18, in a nine-storey building classified with DS4 damage, repair work has been under way for a year, but has not yet been completed. 15 families have returned to the building with number 19/659 and why the building is still a construction site.

"The building began to be repaired, but apart from the scaffolding and the works on the first three floors, nothing is visible. We raise our voices to know what will be done next, we don't see anything changing," said Mersin Disha, one of the residents of the building, to BIRN.

Not receiving the rent bonus for a long time caused the residents to return to their flats. "The bonus has always been delayed, it has never been given on time, so we have returned and why the works have not yet been completed", said Disha.

Forced return of residents to damaged buildings is considered extremely dangerous by construction engineers. Especially problematic are the objects determined by the in-depth actexpertise with damage level DS4, with damage to more than 2/3 of the building surface or that have suffered severe structural damage. According to construction experts, over the years and without timely intervention, these buildings are always more and more dangerous.

"Severe structural damage, significantly reducing stability, may risk the collapse of the remaining part of the building, as a result of the self-weight of the structural elements or even possible seismic oscillations," said Alban Uka, civil engineer, to BIRN.

According to him, atmospheric factors affect the damaged objects, reducing the resistance of the structures.

"Atmospheric factors can mainly affect the increase of moisture in the object, the creation of pores or corrosion in certain elements, and consequently the reduction of the resistance of reinforced concrete structures", said Uka.

According to him, the time factor is very important in the stability of an object after receiving blows.

The most endangered parts, in case of severe structural damage or cracks in the supporting structure of an object, include columns, beams, floor slabs or internal staircase ramps. The engineer says that the intervention in these constructions should be immediate.

"The risk is present throughout the period of the facility's stay in a damaged state, as the intervention in the reconstruction of the facility must be immediate, according to the degree of damage," he concluded./ BIRN