Speaking at a public meeting in Tirana’s Administrative Unit No. 5, Rama said the government will act against developers who exceed permitted building limits or ignore construction site regulations.

“We are currently targeting all illegal activity in the most expensive villa areas of Tirana, beyond TEG shopping mall. We will not forgive a single square meter. Where possible, villas will be confiscated and transformed into kindergartens, nurseries, or health centers,” he said.

Rama stressed that property owners have the right to develop their land legally but “no meter beyond what is allowed by law and custom.” He noted that public land disputes in Tirana are extensive, due to overlapping ownership claims and historical records.

The prime minister added that the National Planning and Housing Agency is developing formulas to collaborate with developers and require them to allocate space for childcare facilities.

“The need for kindergartens and nurseries grows every year. Tirana has built a positive reputation for its childcare services, and more parents want to enroll their children,” Rama said.

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Rama shared footage on social media showing the demolition of an unlicensed villa complex in Farka, near Tirana, carried out by the National Inspectorate for the Protection of Territory (IKMT).

“Luxury villas cannot be built for profit in violation of the law and at the expense of the community,” Rama said, adding that the operation “will not stop anywhere or in front of anyone, until no one even thinks about building without a permit.”

The government launched the nationwide crackdown in July as part of its “Urban Renaissance 2.0” plan, targeting illegal or non-compliant construction projects, especially around Tirana.

Builders, supervisors and inspectors found to have violated building permits face administrative and criminal penalties under Albanian law.

Authorities have encouraged citizens to report cases of illegal construction through the online platform hapesiraimepublike.gov.al, which has so far registered 15,310 complaints, of which 11,686 have been resolved and 3,624 remain under review.

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Rama shared footage of a controlled demolition of one structure, reiterating the government’s determination to fight unlawful construction.

“Whoever builds without a permit is only investing in their own trouble. Theth, again and everywhere, until the end, for Albania 2030 in the European Union,” he said.

The National Territorial Protection Inspectorate (IKMT) resumed demolitions of 13 concrete and wooden structures in the park. Around 100 illegal buildings were removed during the first phase of the operation.

The initiative is part of a broader effort across the country to free public spaces from unlawful development and precedes the “Urban Renaissance 2.0” programme, which aims to restore legality and foster community development.

Rama also unveiled new legal measures this week to strengthen territorial control, protect public areas, enforce building permits, and punish illegal construction.

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Socialist lawmaker tabled the proposal to annul all fines imposed on individuals in rural areas for unauthorized buildings, either for housing or business purposes, between January 1, 2015 and November 30, 2024.

Braçe said that the proposed bill includes illicit buildings and construction processes conducted for housing purposes in villages and towns, for self-employment, business, collecting, storage, trade and export purposes.

The law would also benefit urban residents living in individual housing units, not apartment blocks. According to MP Braçe, the measure is not an amnesty, but rather a cancellation of outstanding fines and enforcement penalties, particularly in rural areas facing economic hardship.

He said that the proposal will also include cancellation of all administrative penalties, fines levied during the pandemic for not respecting the restrictive measures aimed at containing the spread of COVID-19 virus.

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“Illegal constructions have been a cancer for this country. They are no longer as such. There are still sporadic cases of unauthorized construction activities, but this phenomenon has decreased ten times by now and we are committed to tackle this issue,” PM Rama said during a Q&A session with reporters and the public earlier today.

PM Rama acknowledged that a lot remains to be done to achieve his government’s ambitious plans for Albania’s development.

“The truth is that we should now give a final blow to this heinous phenomenon. I have noticed the recent online comments with many of the commentators saying precisely what I have been saying and constantly reiterating for some years now, admitting that it is unacceptable that we establish total control over the territory when it comes to local residents in remote rural areas when they build a surrounding wall or a small living space illegally, while big businessmen and wealthy people are allowed to built extra construction floors in the capital city,” he said.

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No one, neither the opposition that spares no efforts to level all types of allegations, nor the media that spares nothing from reporting, or even the justice system that spares no surrounding walls or attics in the suburbs unpunished, saw them, reported them, heard of them and nobody searched for the construction floor areas built illegally for financial gain right at the heart of Tirana. Because, each and every one of them are either involved, to a greater or lesser degree, directly or indirectly, or have their eyes so blinded and their ears so deaf from the hatred, with their tongues speaking evil and their lips telling lies and allegations that they play the role of the strongman with the weak and are extremely weak when facing the strongmen.

However, whoever has still a memory clearly knows I was the one to wage the war on illegal constructions and the battle for the fine urbanization and civilizing modernization since day one I joined the politics, never ceasing fighting that has lead to major accomplishments, but also some failures.

The illegally-built construction floor area has been cut by ten times since the time when builders constructed undisturbed right in the centre of the Albanian capital, but we have yet to stop it for good, because they have always found a way to buy the right they are not entitled to, by bribing inspectors, some police inspectors and officers, a police official, but also by taking hostage judges and prosecutors, who have been always zealous enough to persecute the weak ones for illegally construction a surrounding wall or a roof.

However, we have reached a final chapter of this long effort and after having seen that the justice has been bribed in exchange of the illegally-built construction floor area has repeatedly allowed an escape route for them, we have made a new government decision and we have closed every possible path, because they, nobody can buy me and this government! I and this government are determined to press ahead with every effort without being worn out neither because of the frequent and numerous strong turns, nor from the daily uphill in these difficult times.

Here it is the first delivery act of 4646 square meters of the construction floor area, illegally built in the centre of Tirana, that will be transferred to the state under a notary contract. And this is just the first act of confiscation for the public interest of the illegally built properties and more actions will ensue to confiscate the last illegally constructed building. Therefore, whoever deals with me and us by claiming that we are allegedly the ones behind the towers and behind the residential buildings, let them see the truth well or let them go one barking, but I assure all those who want a just Albania and that they want an Albania where the law is equal for everyone and there are no strongmen before the law, because I will never betray them!

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