The ruthless abuse of public money in Albania often produces comical situations. The most recent case concerns the Albcontrol company, which is known for its highly damaging pranks.
At the end of last year, Albcontrol announced a tender worth 33.2 million lek or about 350 thousand euros for the provision of infrastructure for the provision of Flight Information services at Kukës Airport.
But there's a small problem. There haven't been any flights at Kukes Airport for two years. And there's no chance of that happening, despite the government occasionally making empty promises.
Tender announcement
Currently, only birds fly at Kukes Airport. Therefore, the infrastructure, which will cost Albanians 350 thousand euros, will provide information services for bird flight over Kukes Airport.
And this is a contract that is repeated every year, with the sole purpose of receiving 350 thousand euros, without bringing any public benefit to the citizens. But this is not the only problem. This tender is a swamp of abuses from all sides.
350 thousand euros to rent a kiosk
Although Albania's cunning officials have learned to name their tenders with complex terms, not without purpose, in fact the real object of this tender is the 1-year rental of a kiosk measuring 3 meters by 2.5 meters and equipped with two radios and a landline phone. We are talking about so-called mobile control towers like the one in the photo below.
This tower is supposed to house air traffic controllers, who control the landings and takeoffs of planes. In the case of Kukes Airport, they will control the landings and takeoffs of crows. But it doesn't end there.
A new tower with the equipment and technical criteria required by Albcontrol in the contract costs 80-100 thousand dollars if you buy it new. The Albanian air navigation company is paying 350 thousand euros to rent a used tower for 1 year.
The tender for renting the tower took place two weeks ago. Only one company participated in the open competition. This was R & T, which offered a price of 31.6 million lek or 330 thousand euros. This Friday, the company was announced the winner of the kiosk tender.
Announcing the winner
In short, 350 thousand euros disappeared. But Albanian citizens will not receive any services from this money. Zero.
The greed with which citizens' money is wasted in Albania is frightening. When hospitals are left without tests, Albcontrol, which directly received over 70 million euros in capital injection from citizens' money last year, spends money to count birds flying at Kukes Airport.
Editorial
