Albania Hunger Strikers Seek Promised Aid

The owners of a building that collapsed in the town of Gjirokastra last month, killing three people, were on hunger strike for the fifth day on Friday, demanding the financial aid they were promised by Albania’s government.

According to the Ministry of Interior, construction work on a new building at the base of the hill where the apartment block was located may have caused the collapse on November 7. Three people died in the accident, including a 12-year old girl and her mother.

The owners of the construction firm, its technical director and six local officials have been arrested and charged. They all have denied any wrongdoing during their arraignment hearings.

Real estate has been booming in Albania for a decade, the construction industry accounting for 47 per cent of overall economic activity in 2006. Price increases were fueled by strong domestic demand, availability of mortgage loans, fast-flowing remittances from family members working abroad and a strong migratory trend from rural to urban areas.

However, the fast pace of growth, coupled with weak state institutions and corruption, has reduced oversight on construction sites.

The local office of the watchdog group Transparency International said in November that the incident was due to lack of regulatory oversight and weak enforcement of existing rules in the construction industry because of corruption.

Local media reported that the residents of the collapsed building had complained about the construction before, and had even had filed a suit against the developers of the new building.

Source: Balkan Insight

Short URL: http://www.albanianeconomy.com/news/?p=1282

Posted by editor on Dec 19 2008. Filed under General News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry