At today’s meeting on the Mountain Package, Rama told the mayors that all maps must be submitted to the Minister of State for Local Government by the end of October.

Rama emphasized that the investment package for mountainous areas has generated strong interest, with 800 expressions of interest received on the first day—mostly from Albanians abroad—demonstrating its appeal.

On the other hand, Rama expressed concern that progress is proceeding very slowly, which contradicts the package’s core principles of streamlined bureaucracy and the ability to quickly respond to those who show interest.

Rama emphasized that this delay “is discouraging for those who have already expressed their interest in joining the process and have yet to receive a response after several months.”

He stressed that “this is completely contrary to the spirit with which the package was conceived and approved.”

On the other hand, Rama added, “I acknowledge that the Package itself carries some excessive bureaucratic burdens, even though it is much more simplified than any previous process for gaining access to a property that one ‘de facto’ owns but does not have the legal paperwork for.”

The Prime Minister urged deputies to amend the law to reduce bureaucratic burdens quickly. He clarified that these burdens are not due to municipal delays and criticized mayors who wait for responses from the State Cadastre Agency, saying they misunderstand the law.

Rama went on saying that the package is the exact remedy for a 30-year-old problem faced by people who own land but haven’t received official documents like the 7501 certificate, preventing them from legally proving ownership and investing in their land. Despite the 2020 law aimed at addressing this issue, challenges remain due to the complexity of obtaining approvals from all neighboring landowners, who may be scattered worldwide, untraceable, or unwilling to cooperate.

The Prime Minister emphasized that the Mountain Package was specifically designed to give landowners the opportunity to go to the municipality and say: “I want to build an agritourism facility here, I want to build a farm here.”

Meanwhile, the Minister of State for Local Government, Ervin Demo, assured the mayors that the working group is available to support them.

“By the beginning of next week, we will provide a template—without detailed information—that every municipality should use to identify priority zones,” Demo stated.

According to him, there are over 4,000 expressions of interest on the Mountain Package platform.
/sm/