The collapse of the Librazhd-Prrenjas national road has blocked southeastern Albania, and even paralyzed trade with North Macedonia and part of Greece. The costs are enormous, mostly falling on the residents or businesses themselves, while the local and central governments have only made statements in the media, without providing a concrete solution.
Even, on orders from above, some officials of state institutions "lined up" to hold a useless conference, while everyone is trying to blame "mother nature". "The main cause of this situation remains the impact of intense and prolonged rainfall, river erosion and saturation of the land mass, which has led to a massive landslide", said the director of the ARA, Ami Kozeli, while the statement was also supported by the representative of the Geological Survey.
But, those present, whether intentionally or unintentionally, overlooked a lot, as they once again hid the main responsible for the collapse. Which official opened the tenders for the construction of the road? Which firm was selected to design it? Who is building the segment where the collapse occurred? How much money was spent? And, most importantly, did the ARA officials sign off on the design, construction or supervision?!
So far, officials have been "hiding," trying to blame the rain that has fallen. In this series, Vox News will publish several documents that shed light on the main people responsible for this collapse.
At the end of 2020, the Albanian Road Authority announced the winner of the tender for the design of the entire road. The winners were “INFRAKONSULT” & “HMK-Consulting”. It is a “consultancy service” procedure, and the object of the contract was “study, design and expansion of the road segment, Elbasan – Prrenjas – Qafë Thanë' exit with a limit fund of 53 million lekë”. The deadline for completing the works was only 9 months.
But who was behind the winning firm?!
Vox News has also analyzed geological-engineering studies conducted along the entire length of the segment. "The purpose of this study is to evaluate the physical and mechanical characteristics of the soils and rocks that are part of the corridor where the 'study, design and expansion of the segment' project is being developed," the document states.
The same document states that existing data has been adapted with new data from previous studies conducted in this area, which include data on the existing road as well as the geological conditions of the areas where the bypasses are located.
"Through this study, we obtain information to assess geological conditions, hydrogeological conditions and identify phenomena related to the design conditions of the area where construction will take place, providing data and recommendations to assist and support as much as possible in the selection of engineering measures during design," the document continues.
Along the entire length of the road, and especially in the fourth phase where the landslide occurred, the topographic works were carried out by the topographic group of "InfraKonsult" sh.pk. "Attached to this report is the topographic report, which explains the methodology and equipment used for the measurements," the document states.
"Attached to this report are technical materials such as drawings and technical details, estimate, geological report, hydraulic and hydrological report, environmental impact assessment report, EIA," the document continues. At the end, there is also the name of the legal director of the design companies, Redi Struga.
These above are official documents, quite accessible by any law enforcement agency. The prosecution has it very easy to get to one of the responsible parties. The report has the names of engineers, the amount awarded, and the ARA officials. Subsequent investigations may shed light on the role of each.
At the end of 2023, after the design had previously been done with the relevant reports, the Albanian Road Authority, which at the time was headed by Evis Berberi, currently arrested for other abuses, both at ARRSH or KESH, announced the winning firm that would build the fourth lot of that segment.
The winner was the company "ANK", which won the tender worth 2.5 billion lek, or over 25 million euros at today's exchange rate. The duration of the works is 24 months, while the contract was signed in 2024.
Currently, the owner of the ANK company, which also won all the tenders for the construction of the Korça - Ersekë segment, is Agim Kola, the brother of former SP MP Ndue Kola. But, just as happened in that segment, where there was a collapse in Qafë e Qarrit, Kola has been followed by collapses on this axis as well.
Above, Vox News listed the people who tendered, designed or are building this segment. They are state officials, private companies and businessmen who have earned tens of millions of euros for public works. Everyone must account for every penny or for the suffering of an entire province, which today is isolated as a result of everyone's abuses. Whether or not they have legal, criminal, administrative responsibility, will be determined by law enforcement or control institutions.
Editorial
