TIRANA, May 11 /ATA/ Deputy Prime Minister, also Minister of Infrastructure and Energy, Belinda Balluku and Director of ADF, Dritan Agolli, on Thursday presented the “White Roads” program, a program designed to significantly improve access to rural roads in remotes areas..
Balluku announced that, in a rough assessment, there are 10-15 thousand kilometers of rural roads set to be refurbished.
According to her, within 7 years as part of this intervention at least 5 thousand kilometers of “white roads” will be refurbished.
“It will give breath to rural development and especially to municipalities that do not have many economic opportunities and have budget constraints. It targets the roads, which have been seen as unfeasible, in terms of the number of inhabitants they have or the economic development of the area,” Balluku said.
Balluku pointed out that the program serves small municipalities, which have recorded a significant economic development in recent years, as are municipalities that have seen agricultural or touristic development.
“All we need is cooperation and this is something that will require a dialogue and a follow-up coordination with the municipalities, because the municipalities must also be clear about how it will work. They should also be willing to strengthen human resources up to know-how capacities, let’s say, how the project should work. The clearer they are, the more successful the project will be, because you will not be able to carry this burden on your shoulders 100% , this is a collaborative process,” she said.
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