In contrast to the morning of the day before, when, as usual, I traveled through Llogora Pass, in the opposite direction I head to the new road, Qeparo-Lasko Bridge (Kuç), to continue down the road of the Vlora River to my home city. As I take this road, which starts somewhere between Himara and Qeparo, I see that I am not the only one who has made this choice. In front of me, dozens of other cars with vacationers, who, like me, return from their weekend getaway on the beaches of Himara or Saranda and rush back to their cities.

From the first meters, I experience a pleasant feeling. My car drives along a beautiful, wide, modern road that winds its way up the valleys and high mountains, against the backdrop of a scenic landscape. It’s a comfortable ride that reinforces the idea of the choice I made. I had tried a few weeks ago to cross this road, in the opposite direction, from Lasko Bridge to Qeparo, but I changed my mind at the last moment. The workers of the construction company had suggested me to wait a little longer, until the last kilometers were asphalted.

“We didn’t think that we would ever have a road of such standards in our villages, let alone be connected to Himara for a few kilometers,” Çize, the alderman of Buronja, Kuç, told me a few weeks ago. Once upon a time, there was a rough road through which you could go from Kuc to the coast, through what is known as Dërrasa Pass, but you could only cross it with animals….

As I think about this, I end up at the roundabout near Lasko Bridge, in the vicinity of Kuc. I look at the watch. I have traversed 17 km in about 16 minutes.!!! Sixteen minutes to come from the coast, here, in the midst of high mountains, in the village of Kuç.…!!!

“With the construction of the road, there is a growing interest among people who are originally from this area to return to their homes or build new homes,” says Pano Bajrami, a former teacher who has chosen to spend his retirement years in his home village of Brataj.

This road, which passes through this region, starting from Vlora to arrive in the coast of Himara and connecting all the villages of the Vlora River, takes on an extraordinary importance, because it reinvigorates this area with great economic potential, which has suffered under-investment for at least 30 years.

This project was materialized with an agreement between the Albanian and Kuwaiti Governments, in 2016. In total, the financial value of this investment amounts to 97.4 million USD, of which 27.4 million USD from the Albanian Government and the rest from Kuwait Fund for ARAB Economic Development Fund.
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