Towards the end of the new Laçi/Balluku water supply system: The reform is giving positive results

2024-01-26 16:45:00, Politikë CNA

Towards the end of the new Laçi/Balluku water supply system: The reform

In the city of Laçi, the works for the construction of the new water supply have entered the final phase. Currently, the works are focused on the construction of the external and internal network, where up to now nearly 87% of the works have been completed, while the work on the installation of meters, as well as the application of the Scada system, is ongoing.

32 thousand residents benefit from this investment, which provides a solution to a long-standing problem in this area. The works for the construction of the water supply system of Laç have been divided into four phases. In the first three phases, it became possible to open wells, rehabilitate the pumping station, lay the main line, build water storage tanks and the distribution line. Work is currently underway on the fourth and final phase.

The Deputy Prime Minister, at the same time the Minister of Infrastructure and Energy, Belinda Balluku, accompanied by the head of AKUK, Klevis Jahaj, the mayor of Kurbini, Majlinda Cara and the MP Shpresa Marnoj closely followed the works carried out, while the entire project is expected to be completed in April this year.

"It has been invested in the foundation of the entire water supply, building a new pumping station, continuing with a collection warehouse of 400 cubic meters, with a complete new transmission line to the main storage of the city, 6 thousand cubic meters, which will supply either the city, but also one of the largest units that is close to the city, that of Sanxhak", explained director Jahaj referring to the project that is being implemented.

For Minister Balluku, the automation of processes is another very important element, in addition to new investments that affect the increase in the quality of services to citizens. Through automation, the possibilities of real-time monitoring and intervention for any malfunction that may occur are increased. Balluku further focused on the reform undertaken in the water supply and sewerage sector, a reform which in its first year has given the first positive results.

"We started this reform in 2021 with the aggregation of enterprises from 58 to 16. It was an excellent cooperation with the mayors, with the municipal councils. We had complete understanding. It is understood that the Government should lead this process, temporarily. It is not our intention to keep these enterprises, but the point is that both the financial situation and the technical situation of the 58 fragmented and fragmented enterprises could no longer be allowed to continue like that. The government having a different expertise, having a different support and power even from our donors, who we should find the opportunity to thank since they have always been active, the World Bank, KfW, Swiss SECO definitely, all these together have made us take this decision, which from all the indicators we collected during 2023, undoubtedly seems to be a correct and successful decision, but always not wanting to infringe on local autonomy. This is a cooperation between the parties", said Balluku.

We are here to serve the citizens and it is the goal of the Albanian Government, Balluku said, placing the emphasis on shortening service delivery deadlines, transparency, automation and innovation.

"The Albanian government has started a new engineering of all administrative processes that required time and created delays. All these are not only for the Albanian Government, they are also for the local government. We have given priority to urban areas. Urban areas, as we are also working for the city of Laçi, are the ones that receive the first investments due to the number of inhabitants. So everything goes per capita and then we are distributed in rural areas", said Balluku, mentioning here the creation of the Innovation Agency, as another important instrument.

For her part, the mayor Cara said that this is a long-awaited investment by the residents as it solves a long-standing problem of theirs regarding the supply of drinking water. The lack of full investments and maintenance had led to a significant depreciation of the water supply system of Laçi, which affected the supply of residents. Now, with the new water supply, these problems are solved by guaranteeing an uninterrupted supply of drinking water./ CNA