"UAE threatens to suspend funding for Albanian airport project"

Monday, July 26, 2004

UAE threatens to suspend funding for Albanian airport project
Albania - Shekulli Newspaper


The UAE [United Arab Emirates] government has threatened to interrupt
its funding for the construction of Kukes airport if construction work
is blocked again. A UAE delegation arrived in Kukes yesterday to see the
situation at the airport site after peasants claiming to own the site
blocked construction work several times. The most recent interruption of
work continued for a month.

The UAE delegation had a meeting with the managers of the construction
company, local government representatives, and the media at the offices
of Al-Kharaf, the company in charge of the work to construct the airport
in Kukes.

UAE delegation chairman Muhammad Ibrahim said that the peasants who
claim to own the site should not block the construction work and that
they should resolve their problems away from the site.

"We hope that this is the last time that the work on Kukes airport is
blocked. Otherwise, it will be difficult for us to continue our
funding," UAE delegation chairman Ibrahim said. His country has given a
grant of 14.2m dollars for the airport's construction.

Ibrahim criticized the authorities and the relevant individuals for
failing to keep the airport site free. "Before we came here we learned
that the site is still blocked at some points. The contractor should
have the site free so that he can work and complete the project as
scheduled. When we began the work on the airport on 10 May last year we
were told that there were no property disputes over the site and that
the work could take place normally," Ibrahim said.

Despite his criticism, he expressed his thanks to the Kukes prefect for
the cooperation and support he has given to the construction company
since the beginning of the project.

Speaking as the government's representative in Kukes, Prefect Shaqir
Shehu said: "There is no conflict between the government and the owners
because the money [for the owners] is already in the bank. The problems
have been created by a small group of families who do not have full
[ownership] documentation. In general, the community is making no
pressure to interrupt the work," Shehu declared. He assured the
delegation that the airport site would soon be fully freed and that no
one would be allowed to block the work again.

Work on Kukes airport has been blocked five times since the project got
underway on 10 May last year. A group of protesters who live in the
village of Shtiqen and represent 12 tribes and 40 families are demanding
compensation for the 32 ha area where the airport is being built. They
claim that they have documentation that proves they are owners of the
site.

On the other hand, Shtiqen municipal council, the Kukes prefecture, and
representatives of 1,160 families in Shtiqen have demanded that the 1993
and 1994 decisions that recognized the property rights for this group of
families should be cancelled, because this site is not their property.
According to the majority of the inhabitants, this area is the property
of the whole village. They have said that the protest group has gained
property rights by using false documents.

The value of the land, on which Kukes airport is being built, is about
2.4m euros. The money has been already allocated in the government's
2004 budget.


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