Jona Plumbi
‘One of the key projects we plan to undertake in the coming 4 years is the restoration of the old village road, aiming to transform Pilur into the center of cultural and natural tourism.’
During the electoral campaign before the local elections on May 14, 2023, the Socialist candidate for the Municipality of Himara, Jorgo Goro, promised the transformation of Himara into a center for cultural and natural tourism. Goro did not win the local elections in Himara, even though with a small difference in votes compared to his rival from the ‘Together We Win’ coalition.’
*The results of the mayoral elections in Himara, local elections on May 14, 2023
Due to the detention of the elected mayor of Himara, Fredi Beleri, who was not allowed to take the oath to officially assume the mandate, Goro has remained in charge of the municipality.
Official information
Taking into account that Jorgo Goro holds the position of the Municipality’s Mayor, we requested official information from the municipality regarding his commitment to the reconstruction of the old Pilur village road.
In its response, the municipality informed us about a tender awarded for the reconstruction of the panoramic road in Pilur‘.
‘Himara Municipality has carried out the tender procedure. ‘Open Procedure, Works’ under reference number REF-52618-12-09-2022, for the project: ‘Reconstruction of the Pilur Panoramic Road,’ with a funding limit of 16,618,754 ALL, excluding VAT‘.
The awarded contractor for the tender is identified as the economic operator ‘ED KONSTRUKSION’ SHKP, with NUIS: K61625001I, presenting an offer with a value of 13,456,890 ALL, excluding VAT.
The contractual agreement with this economic operator has been signed and the implementation works have proceeded.’ – Municipality of Himara.
We found the mentioned project by the municipality through an online search. The mentioned tender was opened in January 2023 and was announced in March of the same year, specifically before the elections on May 14.
While the tender announcement lacks specific coordinates or map location details for the road for reconstruction, visualized in the 3D project photos, it seems to involve a tourist pedestrian pathway in Pilur.
On-site verification
In order to identify the ‘old village road’ mentioned by Jorgo Goro, we consulted local residents who informed us that it is the road connecting Pilur village to the new road along the Vlora River.
Along this road, a sign indicating the entrance to Pilur village guides you towards an old bridge over Vlora River.
*the turn to reach Pilur village from the new road along Vlora River, December 22, 2023
There is no sign at the road entrance notifying the start of the construction works. After crossing the old bridge, the narrow and deteriorated road became rapidly impassable for vehicles.
*the road connecting the new Vlora River road to Pilur village
For this reason, we turned back to take the existing road connecting the village to the town of Himara, in order to reach Pilur.
*The turn to go to Pilur from Himara
From the junction of the national road of Himara to the coastline, leading to the village of Pilur, the road covers a distance of 8.5 kilometers.
The first half of the road, from Himara to Vumblo (4.7 km), was reconstructed in 2018 and cost over 166 million ALL, including VAT.
*the road from Himara to Pilur
| Contractor: SALLIRARI shpk, (in the capacity of the contractor), with VAT number J62903125G, located in Vorë-Marikaj, represented by the Legal Representative – Administrator Mr. Lulëzim Salillari,
The contractor undertakes to carry out the works of the contract “Reconstruction of Piluri Bend Road |
*The contract for the construction of the road from Pilur junction to Himara up to Vumblo junction, with a length of approximately 4.5 km.
The asphalt finishes at Vumblo turn, where a stone processing facility is located.
“The blue line indicates the section of the Pilur village road that was constructed in 2018
*The inert processing facility marks the end of the asphalted road
*The entrance of Pilur village, where the constructed road ends and the inert processing facility is situated
*The entrance of Pilur village, where the constructed road ends and the inert processing facility is situated
To reach Pilur, we also traversed 3.5 kilometers of deteriorated road.
*The unconstructed section of Pilur village road
*The last 3.5 kilometers of the Himara-Pilur road
Upon reaching Pilur village, we encountered Pavllo Bala.
He confirmed that the road connecting the village to Himara was constructed several years ago, but it did not reach Pilur, where he lives with his wife. When we asked him if he had heard about the reconstruction of the old road in Pilur village, Pavllo shrugged his shoulders.
Conclusion
Pilur has been the target of various investments from both the central and local government in recent years. The latest promise of the acting Mayor, Jorgo Goro, was regarding the ‘old road of Pilur village’.
Due to a lack of comprehensive data from the Municipality, which instead of providing details about the project for the old village road, provided information about the panoramic road in Pilur, we reached out to the acting Mayor, Goro, to confirm the Municipality’s response. However, as of the publication of this article, we have not received a reply from him.
In order to determine whether the Municipality has a plan or allocated budget for the construction of this road, we searched for the municipality’s midterm budget information on its official website. However, the latest budget uploaded on the Himara Municipality website is for 2021, and the midterm budget covering 2021 – 2023 is also not accessible to the public
After conducting on-site verification, it is evident that work on the road connecting Pilur village to the new Vlora River road, known locally as the old village road, has not yet begun. Therefore, we consider the promise to be unfulfilled at this point.
*Faktoje, supported by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), is actively monitoring 10 municipalities nationwide, verifying the fulfillment of promises made by Mayors.
