When the ground shakes, and it shakes every night, the blood freezes in the veins, begins his story for Hina Agim Ceka, a restaurateur from Durrës, while looking at his ruined hotel on the very beach.
His city of Durrës, a city with more than 300 thousand inhabitants, suffered the most in the catastrophic earthquake that struck Albania in the early dawn of November 26.
"As long as the head is alive, then we will think about rebuilding the hotel later," says Agim, explaining that Durres was a deserted city the week after the earthquake.
Most of the population left it and went to other parts of Albania, Kosovo or Montenegro. Agim also spent a few days in Gusinje, in Montenegro, with his relatives.
"The first and second night after the earthquake we slept in the car at the market"
"The first and second night after the earthquake we slept in the car in the market, the first days were a disaster. Afterwards I went to my family in Gusinje. We traveled for a long time, because it was very crowded. Everyone was leaving Durrës. In three hours we covered 20 kilometers ", states Agim.
His hotel has 24 suites and a large restaurant. Inside, everything is destroyed, but the supporting pillars are sound, so it will not have to be demolished to the ground, like several hotels on the Draconian Riviera. Agim expects that, as announced by the Albanian government, the reconstruction of the destroyed hotels will be undertaken by contractors.
"Let's see, Prime Minister Rama said on television that all those who carried out the works, given that they did not build well, will rebuild all the buildings and hotels," says Agim.
Durres lost 26 inhabitants in the November 6,4th earthquake, magnitude 25 on the Richter scale. Since then, the ground in Albania has trembled more than a thousand and a half times.
First arrests for bad construction
Immediately after the earthquake, an investigation was launched. Less than two days after he took the oath in parliament, Chief Prosecutor Orsian Cela was in Durrës. An investigative team has been formed and will soon present the results of the investigation.
"There are people who broke the law and many lost their lives. Responsibility will be determined, whether it is a builder or an official. There will be no hesitation in any case," said Cela in Durrës.
A week after his visit, the prosecutor's office issued 17 arrest warrants on charges of murder and abuse of office for the deaths of 51 people who died in the earthquake.
The police and the prosecutor's office said that initial investigations showed that "the cause of the loss of life in the collapsed buildings was that the builders, engineers and investors did not comply with the rules, norms and standards of safe construction".
Estimated damage between half a billion and one billion euros
A 26-year-old girl died in an earthquake in Tirana on November 80. In contrast to Durrës, in the Albanian capital, the buildings that were built during the late communism in Albania, in the late 90s and early XNUMXs, when, as Erion Veliaj, the mayor of Tirana, says of Hina, were built without any control. Newer buildings and solitaires came through without damage.
The authorities in Tirana tried to place 1.200 families who were left without a roof over their heads in new apartments located not far from their destroyed home so as not to change their daily routine.
"We realized that people must return to normal life habits, and not be under tents, in shelters or in gymnasiums," says the mayor. For this reason, the city immediately approved money for the rent in the building closest to theirs, which was not damaged, for about 1.200 families who were left homeless after the earthquake. "So, they go to the same job, to the same store, the children go to the same schools and kindergartens, they drink coffee in their cafe", Veliaj explains.
According to the data of the Albanian authorities, after the catastrophic earthquake, about 20 thousand people were left without a roof over their heads. If they lived in residential buildings, they were demolished or so damaged that they could no longer be lived in without reconstruction. The construction site is expected to open in the spring, and the state will pay rent for the next 12 months to all those left homeless.
According to Veliaj, the total damage at the state level will be between half a billion and one billion euros.
The goal is to avoid an economic earthquake
The Albanian capital is preparing extensively for the Christmas and New Year holidays. The goal of the city administration, led by 40-year-old socialist Veliaj, is to return life in the capital to normal as soon as possible. He says that an "economic earthquake" usually follows a natural disaster, and the city government wants to avoid that earthquake.
"I think the strength of the city lies in how quickly it rises after such a fall. So now our goal is to get back on its feet. That's why this week we opened public institutions, 98 percent of schools and kindergartens. We decorated the city. We are preparing the main city square for the Christmas and New Year holidays," says the city leader. He points out that the city wants to avoid the economic recession that usually follows such natural disasters.
"We are not victims, we are survivors, we are sorry for everything that happened, but we have to get back on our feet and continue," says Veliaj.
The goal, says the first man of Tirana, is to encourage citizens' consumption. Instead of sending clothes that no one needs anymore, he invites his neighbors to spend a holiday weekend in Albania.
“Business people ask if they want to buy clothes. We tell them: you don't need to buy clothes, but there are a few things you can do - hire people, spend and encourage consumption... That's why we say, if you want to help Tirana or Durrës, or if someone in Montenegro or Croatia wants to help, come for weekend and spend money here", says Veliaj.
Neighbors were the first to come to the rescue
"In a few hours, we received the help and support of all our neighbors. The proverb says that you cannot choose your neighbors, but if Albania could choose, it would not have chosen better neighbors than the ones we have", says the mayor of Tirana.
In the early morning of November 27, only a few hours after the catastrophic earthquake, rescuers from the surrounding countries were on the soil of Albania. Agim Ceka also met them in Durres, who says that in the first hours they saved many lives in Durres.
"Everyone came, all the neighbors from the Balkans came. They say they were here in five or six hours. And they saved many people's lives," notes Agim.
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