How Lezha returned to the construction site on the eve of local elections, the millions that were spent before May 14

During the electoral campaign for his second term at the head of the Lezhë Municipality, the socialist candidate Pjerin Ndreu promised the residents of Tale a significant improvement of the area's infrastructure. A few days before the May 14 local elections, the tourist village of Tales in Lezhë turned into a construction site. The municipality started work on the "Construction of road infrastructure in Tales Beach" worth 76 million ALL.

At the beginning of November 2022, the Municipality of Lezha opened the tender for the 'Construction of Road infrastructure on the Beach of Tales'. The limit fund for this project was ALL 76 million and eight companies participated in the competition. But in the end, except for the winner, all participating operators were disqualified and the tender was red-flagged by Open Procurement.

"A RedFlag note is an event, or set of circumstances or other information that may indicate a concern or exposure and potential risk of legal compliance for illegal or unethical business conduct, particularly in relation to corrupt practices and non-compliance with anti-corruption laws. ', explains Open Procurement, side of the red flag.

The tender for 'Construction of road infrastructure on the beach of Tales', part of the Shënkoll administrative unit, was won by the merger of the companies "ARKONSTUDIO" LLC - "ALKO-IMPEX General Construction". The contract between the parties was signed on December 12 and its duration was expected to be four months.

This meant that the Lezhë Municipality's investment in Tale would be ready in April, at the height of the May 14 election campaign. But the verifications show that the field work started right before the elections.

Campaign for May 14

During the electoral campaign for his second term at the head of the Lezhë Municipality, the socialist candidate Pjerin Ndreu promised the residents of Tale a significant improvement of the area's infrastructure.

"In Tale 1, Shënkollë unit, Lezhë Municipality is intervening in 4 road axes, significantly improving the infrastructure of the area!", promised Ndreu during an electoral meeting with the residents of Tale in March.

On the eve of the local elections on May 14, the tourist village of Tales resembled a construction site, where the municipality of Lezha had started the works for the "Construction of road infrastructure on the Beach of Tales" worth 76 million ALL.

Ndreu's political rivals in the electoral race, but also some residents of the area called the investment in question electoral asphalt.

After the elections

Two months after securing the second mandate at the head of Lezhë Municipality with 18,299 votes, Pjerin Ndreu returned to Tale.

"Today in Tale where we continue our work! The entrance to the beach is being laid with asphalt, pavement, and lighting', said Ndreu on July 17, as he mocked the opponents' accusations about electoral asphalt.

"What was electoral asphalt or what we would not do with work, is undone today when we are working to close the projects that will improve access to one of the best beaches in the north, Talja!"

To learn more about the progress of this investment, Faktoje addressed a request for information to Lezhë Municipality. In the written response, at the beginning of October, the Municipality announced that the project was in the final stage.

"The project includes interventions for the construction of a sidewalk along the entire length of the beach road with a length of 2.7 km, as well as the construction of an asphalt road that connects the main road with the beach, with a length of 550 m," explains the Municipality of Lezhes.

Field verification

On November 21, Faktoje traveled to the tourist village of Tales to verify the progress of the works. Crossing the main road of the village, we met some residents.

"They made this sidewalk and put lighting, then the road that connects to the beach was made new below. Roads bring development, why don't we appreciate it?!", one resident explains to us, while another jokingly expects: "They started for elections, we're pretending we don't understand! It is important to do these things."

The existing main road of Tales was reconstructed in 2010. With the last investment, a sidewalk and lighting were added to the 2.7 kilometers of this road on one side. 

Meanwhile, the 550-meter-long road connecting Tales beach was built from scratch. 

cONcluSiON 

Based on the verification carried out and the information collected, we decided to categorize the promise for the project of 'Construction of road infrastructure on the beach of Tales' as kept.

*Faktoje, supported by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), is monitoring 10 municipalities in the country and verifying whether or not the promises made by the mayors have been kept. Taken from Faktoje.al