As the campaign for the May 14 local elections kicks off, candidates are making promises and promoting their achievements, seeking to convince the community to vote for them. Such is the statement of the Mayor of Vora, Blerim Shera, during the electoral meeting where the SP candidates for the Municipal Council were presented. During the meeting, he emphasized that during the mandate he completed the construction of two middle schools in Vorë and Bërxullë. But these public works were not built by the Municipality of Vora, but with funding from the European Union.
Ilda Hoxha
The mayor of Vora, Blerim Shera, and the political leader of Tirana region, Erion Veliaj, presented the candidates of the Socialist Party for the Municipal Council in this area on April 3. During his speech, Mr. Shera listed a series of works carried out according to him in the Municipality of Vora, making some promises for the next mandate. The mayor of Vora and the political leader of Tirana district also spoke with “pride” about the schools built there.
“Schools are the new image of the city. We finished the reconstruction of the middle school Vorë. We finished the reconstruction of the Bërxulle middle school”, declared Mr. Shera.
But who built the two middle schools in Vora and Bërxulle? In October of last year, Faktoje reported that the works for the construction of these schools had been completed and they were open to receive students.
From the verification made on the official website of EU4schools, it results that the middle school Vorë was not built with funding from the Municipality of Vorë, nor from the government, but from the European Union through the project for financing schools ‘EU4schools’. The facility was opened in October 2022 and has a capacity of 781 students.
Middle school Vora
Also, the Bërxulle middle school is financed by the European Union, although the mayor of Vora “sells” it on the eve of the elections as an achievement of the institution he leads.
The middle school Bërxulle has been opened since the beginning of the 2022-2023 school year and has a capacity of 361 students.
EU4schools data on schools
Middle school, Berxulle
Even in the official response to Faktoje dated October 12, 2022, the Municipality of Vora admits that these two educational institutions were built by foreign donors.
“The Vorë middle school, newly rebuilt by donors, has started the academic process. The school with a capacity of twenty-eight classes, has two laboratories and a gym and is attended by 701 (seven hundred and one) students.
The Bërxulle middle school, newly built by donors, has started the academic process. The school has a capacity of eighteen classrooms, three laboratories and a gym and is attended by 303 (three hundred and three) students”, the Municipality of Vora officially states.
Based on this simple verification, the statement of the mayor of Vora that he built the two middle schools, turns out to be untrue and disinformative, using it as electoral propaganda.
