VOA Analysis/Report on Local Government in Albania: Unequal Services and Lack of Representation

2023-05-06 09:02:00, Aktualitet CNA

VOA Analysis/Report on Local Government in Albania: Unequal Services and Lack of

The Institute for Municipalities of Albania has just published its annual monitoring report, which notes an uneven distribution of public services between urban and rural areas.

The report singles out as one of the biggest problems currently the differences and unequal distribution of public services in urban and rural areas.

The author of the study and the head of the Institute for Municipalities of Albania, Agron Haxhimihali, says that the differences in public services from urban to rural areas, where 30-40 percent of the population live, is very large.

"The main defects that the monitoring report for 2022 notes are mainly related to the unequal distribution of services between urban areas and rural areas. This is an extremely big problem. We have established it several times, it is also a finding of the World Bank in the last report for Albania, which says that there is inequality and that public services, after the territorial reform, have been completely neglected", says Mr. Haxhimihali.

In the annual monitoring report on local government, the Institute for Municipalities of Albania proposes to reassess the state of local government from an administrative point of view, because many of the medium and small municipalities do not perform their functions to the proper extent.

"The inequality of services must be reviewed. The high number of residents in the cities and the smaller number in the peripheral areas should not violate the constitutional and democratic obligation, that citizens should be provided with the same conditions and living standards from the services for a citizen in Konispol and for another in Has or in Trope. From these areas, the biggest displacement is also happening, so we have municipalities in the districts of Gjirokastra, Berat, Kukes, Dibra that are being emptied every day and empty places, areas, villages are being created. The government should take this to focus more attention, services and investments to prevent this movement as democratically as possible", added Mr. Haxhimihali.

Another problem that the report notes is the issue of representation in municipal councils of administrative units of rural areas.

The report states that residents of units in rural areas do not have adequate representation in municipal councils.

Mr. Haxhimihali says that even for the local elections that are approaching on May 14, the political parties have not resolved this concern.

Likewise, the revenues from the municipalities themselves have not been fulfilled according to the forecasts. Local government is underfinanced and lacks 30-40 percent of potential revenue.

Economic difficulties, lack of representation and poor services in rural areas, emphasizes Mr. Haxhimihali, have greatly influenced the departure of young people from the country.

"A big gap has been created in all dimensions, but mainly in the loss of manpower. There is no one to work there, there is capital; agricultural lands, forests, pastures, meadows, water sources, but there is no one to engage with them. Also the educated people who are now fleeing from those areas. If it continues like this, then the problems will deepen in these rural areas as well, where the elderly will remain, while the youth will join the urban stress", says the author of the report on local government.

The report states that the number of employees in the local administration has increased significantly. The number of municipal employees increased last year by 1,800 people, while today there are a total of 38,000 local government employees, compared to 22,000 employees 10 years ago.

Mr. Haxhimihali says that such a high number of employees is not necessary and a smaller and more effective local government is needed.

Even the population and housing census and new statistics affirm the experts of the Institute for Municipalities of Albania will help new social policies and new public services. According to them, there is a need for a recategorization of local government, because an unreasonable diversity has appeared between urban, semi-urban and rural municipalities./VOA