The Mayor of Tirana, Erion Veliaj, promised during the campaign for the local elections of May 14, 2023, that five schools would be built in the Astir area.
"We will build 5 schools in Astir that will be the envy of the whole world," Veliaj declared during the electoral campaign.
In fact, the promise to build schools in this area was not new, as it has been repeated in several electoral periods.
What is happening on the ground today?
A field verification shows that in the border area between Astir and Yzberisht, on the "3 Dëshmorët" road, works have begun for the construction of only two (out of five) educational institutions, a 9-year school and a high school, within the same plot of land, which Faktoje has been following from year to year.
Work on these two facilities is still in progress.
The high school has advanced further: the building structure has been erected, taken shape, and painted, but the work is not complete, as the piles of soil have not been removed and the facility is not yet functional.
Meanwhile, for the 9-year-old school, work is at an earlier stage. Only the first floor of the structure has been erected on the ground, with the concrete columns still exposed, while work continues among workers and construction machinery.
Authorities have stated that this school will have capacity for around 900 students.
According to project data, the investor is the Municipality of Tirana, while the value of the contract for the construction of two buildings is 431,540,207 lekë excluding VAT.
The works are being carried out by the joint venture of the companies "NG Structures" SH.PK & "EPG Company" SH.PK, while the implementation deadline is expected to be 24 months from the start of the works.
In April of last year, during an inspection in the area, Prime Minister Edi Rama, the then Minister of Education, Ogerta Manastirliu, and the then acting Mayor of Tirana, Anuela Ristani, presented the project as an intervention to address the need for schools in this area.
"The school that we see today is according to the modules that we have for new schools, where we maximize the space to have as many classes and capacity as possible, it is planned for 900 students for the 9-year cycle," said Ristani.
A year ago, field observations by Faktoje showed that the school was in the construction phase of the structure (the carabiner), although the deadline for completion of all works was scheduled for April of this year.
conclusion
The works to complete at least one of the schools, the 9-year-old one, according to the deadlines foreseen by another acting leader (former acting mayor Anuela Ristani) have not yet been completed.
Field verification confirms that work on the two schools has begun and the works have advanced, moving from the initial stages of the site to the erection of the structures.
However, none of the verified facilities have been completed and put into operation.
*Faktoje, supported by the National Endowment 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
