Prime Minister Edi Rama travelled today to Theth, one of the areas that best represents the potential for sustainable mountain tourism development, where he held an open discussion with local residents and entrepreneurs, including applicants under the Mountains Package.
The Prime Minister explained the purpose of this initiative, the opportunities it creates for families who inherit property in mountain areas, as well as the vision for development in harmony with nature, tradition and the identity of these territories. Prime Minister Rama underlined that the Mountains Package aims precisely to provide development opportunities for the owners and heirs of these lands, while creating a new economic model for areas whose greatest potential lies in tourism.
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Prime Minister Edi Rama: Good afternoon everyone, and thank you very much for your hospitality!
There is one very positive thing about every meeting here in Theth: no one can say that the people attending have been brought here from the city, from Tirana or from the public administration.
You are all local residents. You are entrepreneurs who are already active or entrepreneurs who wish to start a business, and we are here precisely because Theth was one of the reasons behind the creation of the Mountains Package. It is also one of the clearest examples—if not the clearest—of the area’s potential, of its ability to achieve success, and of the challenges that need to be addressed.
What must be said from the outset is that there is a major misunderstanding surrounding the Mountains Package and, for that reason, we felt it was important to come here.
I am very pleased that Beneti, together with Ervin, chose precisely a plot of land that is an inherited family property, but where the heirs had absolutely no opportunity to develop it because such development was not legally possible.
At the same time, it is very important that everyone who owns inherited property outside the scope of the existing legal framework established under Law No. 7501 hears and fully understands what this is really about, and does not fall victim to all the absurdities and malicious claims being made about this process and about the Mountains Package.
Before giving the floor to the others, allow me to refer to a few comments I was reading on my way here, after I posted a message about today’s visit and the Mountains Package. These are comments that deserve to be addressed here in your presence.
Afterwards, of course, both those who have welcomed us here on their land and everyone else will be invited and most welcome to take the floor.
Let me spend a moment on these comments because they help us better understand the situation.
One comment relates to what I said—that the Mountains Package is being challenged and misunderstood by those who have always viewed the mountains from the city.
There is a lady here—I will not mention names, because that would not be appropriate, and these could even be fake profiles, but that is beside the point. What matters is what she says:
“We look at them from the city because you denied us the opportunity to revive the lands of our ancestors. You even came here and set off the dynamite. For two years you have dragged out the procedures because there is no sign whatsoever of what you are talking about. It is also in your interest to delay everything and keep the system dysfunctional so that, in the end, you can hand everything over to the oligarchs.”
This narrative about oligarchs, about giving everything away and about bringing wealthy people from the cities to take over the mountains is precisely the misconception that dominates the negative opinion surrounding the Mountains Package.
Another comment says: “In mountain areas such as Theth and elsewhere, it should be the local people who build in order to improve their lives, not your preferred businessmen receiving construction permits. Albania and the land of Albania belong to Albanians.”
Well, we have heard that quite a lot lately.
Another person writes:
“The oligarchs divided up the coastline piece by piece. Now they are going to divide up the mountains as well.”
Another says: “The Mountains Package is necessary and timely, but it must respect the laws and the rights of the legitimate owners, not the usurpers.”
This is exactly why I wanted to explain the reasoning. The Mountains Package is precisely the opposite of everything that is being claimed. Precisely the opposite.
The Mountains Package is not for usurpers. It is not for businessmen who have no connection to these areas and no agreement with you. It is not for oligarchs. It is for one purpose only: to activate the economy of those who inherit property in territories where land was not distributed under Law No. 7501, because you and others living in these areas did not accept the implementation of Law No. 7501.
Instead, you divided the land among yourselves according to the traditional boundaries and, generally speaking—not always, but generally—you do not have disputes with one another.
It is also intended to address another issue concerning territories such as this one, where there is, for example, no other realistic opportunity for development apart from tourism.
That is what the Mountains Package is. Nothing more. Here we are standing precisely on inherited family land. Others have also been invited here, if I am not mistaken. They may take the floor, introduce themselves and explain that they are applicants, that they have received positive responses, where they come from and why only now, at this stage, they are finally able to develop their inherited property.
Nothing else that is being claimed has any connection whatsoever with the truth.
And I want to say one other thing, because this is the first time I have come here since the “dynamite”, as that lady puts it.
It is entirely untrue, and you are all witnesses to the fact that I did not come here and say: “Carry on, keep building, because we will legalise everything.” That is untrue, because I could not possibly have said such a thing, as I would have been violating the law. I came here and said that we would legalise the existing buildings. We would legalise them, starting with the old structures, because, as you know, even those who had inherited traditional stone houses in an area such as this, which is a protected natural park, had no ownership documents. Isn’t that so? No one would register their traditional house in the property register, because they were told: “You are in a protected area.” And because you were in a protected area, you could keep the house inherited from your great-great-grandfather; no one denied that it was yours and no one came to demolish it, but you could not formally register it as your property. Isn’t that the case? I am referring to the traditional houses.
Then came the reality created by those who later built without permits, at a time when there was nothing here and when they did not abandon the area, but began building heroically. Some of those first people are here today, and the pioneers of Theth’s development were indeed heroes. There were no roads here, no electricity, nothing at all. The Minister will also give you some positive news regarding the reliability of the electricity supply, but he will do so when he takes the floor.
What I said, and what we have honoured to the letter, was this: the existing buildings would be legalised.
What happened afterwards, and you know this very well, was that illegal construction exploded here following my visit. It was as though permission had been given and everyone said, “Let’s go!” The thinking was that, since buildings were going to be legalised, everyone should rush in and build. It reached the point where the very heart of Theth, Theth’s world-famous postcard image, was damaged. Type “Theth” into Google in any language in the world, and the first image that appears is the church with the green meadow. That green meadow was occupied. Several wooden houses were quickly erected, the area was fenced off, covered with gravel and turned into an open wound right in the middle of Theth.
How could we allow that? How could we allow it after coming here to celebrate all the heroism, because what you achieved before we began supporting you was genuine heroism, before you finally had a government, because until then you had had no government at all? No roads, no electricity, no communication whatsoever. For months on end, and you know this better than I do, anyone who remained here during the winter had no chance either of leaving or of receiving anyone from outside. It was only God and you, together with Him, whenever, God forbid, a serious problem arose in the family, an illness or anything else.
We came here to say that development must now be taken to another level. We must improve quality through proper planning and permits, with high-quality projects. Not simply, “Go ahead and build.” That is what we are currently doing with the 11 applicants, as well as with others who have come forward, expressed interest, begun working and hired architects. That is the whole story.
I will now give the floor to the Minister of State for Local Government, who is also the coordinator of the entire Mountains Package programme, so that he may say a few words as well. We will then make this an interactive discussion. You should speak. You may have questions, concerns or even complaints. There may also be someone here whose unauthorised structure, built after my visit, was demolished. That is not a problem. We can discuss it.
And once again, thank you very much for your hospitality.
