President of the Urban and Intercity Transport Association Dashnor Memaj told ATA today that, “This decision was approved at the meeting of the Kamza municipal council on October 26, following the request of the licensed private operator that manages the service of the two bus lines. So, beginning from today, November 1, the ticket has increased by 10 lekë”.

Memaj noted that, “This decision was based on an in-depth financial analysis, where costs significantly exceeded revenues and Kamza municipality did not have a budget to subsidize public transport, as Tirana municipality currently does”.

The Municipal Council has also approved the increase in the monthly ticket for these lines, which has gone up from 1,200 lekë to 1,400 lekë, an increase of 200 lekë.

According to Memaj, the price of the general monthly ticket is not affected by the changes, but changes only for these 2 lines.

Asked if a price increase is foreseen for the urban lines of the capital, Memaj said that, “There is no increase for Tirana bus lines and it is not foreseen because they are currently subsidized by the municipality”.

Speaking about improvement of public transport services within the capital, Memaj emphasized that, “There is undoubtedly a need for improvement in the urban infrastructure as a whole, but also in vehicles because there should be more frequent and faster movements, but this should be done by the infrastructure of dedicated bus lanes, which significantly increase the speed of movement”. /k.s/ /a.g/p.s./

The Monthly tickets has the name and photo of the pensioner.

When traveling on bus, the pensioners should have not only the monthly ticket, but also the ID card.

There were queues of pensioners today at the distribution points. They said they would like the ticket should be for a 1-year period so that they don’t have to stand in long lines every month. According to them, another, more optimal solution is needed so that they would not have to wait in line.

The monthly tickets of the pensioners will be subsidized by the Tirana municipality.

Thanks to this initiative, proposed by Mayor of Tirana Erion Veliaj and approved by Tirana municipal council, benefit 177 thousand pensioners, who have the opportunity to be provided with free monthly tickets for public transport.

From December 16, citizens continue to appear at the municipal units to register on the portal for obtaining the right to pensioner ticket.

Beneficiaries are all residents of the municipality of Tirana, women who have reached the age of 60 and men who have reached the age of 65. /k.s//a.f/p.s./

“This 50 Lekë coin is the reason for this urgent interpellation. This is the price of the individual ticket to enter any National or Natural Park with dedicated infrastructure for visitors. If you enter by car with 5 people in it, the price is reduced into 150 Lekë, i.e. 30 Lekë per person. And this price is reduced even more if visitors arrive by car with 10 people: 200 Lekë in total, i.e. 20 Lekë per person. And if we have a bus with 50 people, the price is 300 Lekë for all passengers together, that is 6 new Lekë per person per day”, said Kumbaro.

The Minister of the Environment emphasized that there is no question of payment for the local residents, employees of private entities within the park, nor fishermen.

Kumbaro also mentioned the entire legal basis of this decision, which is not the first of its kind, as there are precedents in the Dajti National Park, the Blue Eye Natural Park or the Kune-Vain Natural Park where electronic ticketing is applied.

“This is the government decision 1156 of December 24, 2020 in support of Article 100 of the Constitution and Law 81 of 2017 “On protected areas” Article 57 about “Sources of financing and administration of protected areas”, said the minister.

Further on, she listed all the ways on how this money is used, from investments in protected areas, to drawing up management plans, afforestation, financing the fight against diseases damaging to the ecosystem, providing food and living conditions for fauna, infrastructure maintenance within the protected area, etc./r.e/p.s./

During the visit yesterday afternoon to the fair stands of youth businesses that offer services to young people through the Student Card, Veliaj said that this year the municipality has made major changes regarding the accommodation conditions for students who come to study in Tirana.

The mayor said that Tirana welcomes all students, regardless of which city they come from to study here.

He also said that very soon the students will be relieved of the dormitory fee as the City Hall will pay half of the sum. Also, they will travel with a free monthly ticket on Tirana’s buses, as long as they have the Student Card with them.

“This week, the Municipal Council is due to pass a decision to make public transportation free for students. It is enough for the students to get the Student Card. Also, we will subsidize up to 50% of the payment for dormitories. Many prices have increased and by paying 50% of the amount, we practically remove a burden from them. We want to ease this burden as a municipality, even though the students who live in the dormitories are not residents of Tirana, but in the future they will be its citizens. I hope that with their talent and work, they will return to the city all this energy and this help that we are giving today. To all students who come from other cities and are in Tirana for the first time, we welcome you, and to all students, including those from Tirana, I wish them success”, concluded Veliaj. /k.s/r.e/p.s./

Veliaj said that the proposal for a free monthly bus ticket for the students is long-awaited news by students. What is more it comes in the year when Tirana holds the title of “European Youth Capital”.

“Our proposal is to subsidize even a part of the dormitory bill. It is true that the students are not local residents of Tirana, but 9 out of 10 students stay in Tirana after they graduate from university, and since the costs of the dormitories have increased, we have to take an important decision, i.e. to subsidize at least half of the dormitories bill or about half, so that to ensure that students are do not have any impact by this situation. Also, we received several other proposals, among which a free monthly bus ticket for students, so that during the crisis they are not affected, especially students who come to Tirana, where the cost is higher than in their remote city. We are doing the calculations and at the next meeting of the municipal council we will bring several financial packages that address these situations”, said Veliaj./r.e/p.s./

In the reaction published on the social media, the staff of this mosque emphasized that the ticket is in context of the cooperation between the Mufti Office with the tourist operators for foreign visitors. But, no one is forced to pay, it is a voluntary contribution welcomed by everyone.

The staff highlighted the fact that it is a universally recognized practice to collect the monetary value for the entrance and explained that the amount collected goes to the maintenance of the mosque.

“Believers and all Albanian citizens who want to visit the Et’hem Bey Mosque can visit it free of charge, worship and contemplate its rare beauties as they have done for centuries. The ticket in question is an initiative of the mufti in coordination with tourist operators, who develop guides for foreign tourists in our capital. It is not an obligation and does not prevent visiting the mosque. No tourist is forced to pay it; it is just a voluntary contribution, which is welcomed by everyone. Since this is a universally known practice, the Mufti Office Tirana launched this initiative to serve as a modest contribution for the maintenance and management of the newly restored Et’hem Beu Mosque”, is read in the reaction of the mosque staff.

The staff turns down all manipulation and slander of the case.

“Meanwhile, the initiative in question has nothing to do with the believers who come to pray in the mosque. The Et’hem Bey Mosque has always been and is open free of charge to all believers and citizens”, concluded the official reaction of the staff of the Et’hem Bey Mosque./p.s./

Balluku said that the support package extends for three months, August, September and October.

The government approved through a Normative Act in April of the current year, the decision to compensate public transport companies with 100 lekë per liter of oil, in order to protect citizens from the increase in ticket prices.

Balluku said after the government meeting that the decision to compensate these companies is part of the anti-crisis package of the government to support citizens and business.

“98% of transport in Albania is carried out by road and we are trying to maintain the ticket price so that there is no change”, stated Balluku.

The April decision makes available a fund of 500 million Lekë for public transport companies. Deputy Prime Minister Balluku said that so far only 60% of the fund has been withdrawn from transport companies./p.s./

Minister of Culture Elva Margariti said today that Berat Castle will be visited without a ticket.

The minister said that the decision to remove the entrance ticket came after concern raised by the residents of Berat.

“Responding to concerns of the local residents of Berat, we decided to remove the entrance ticket to Kala. Now Albanian and foreign tourists can enjoy their visits in one of the most beautiful areas not only of the city, but all of Albania”, stated Margariti.

Berat Castle, one of the largest historical monuments in the Balkans, is a large fortress that rules over the Osum River. The castle is built according to a triangular plan. This castle, if viewed from below, looks like part of the hill.

The inner entrance tower is made of stone blocks, belonging to the Illyrian fortifications, which were built in the IV-II centuries BC. The top of the hill is surrounded by an outer peripheral wall with 24 towers. Inside this castle there are about 14 churches, which have made it quite audible./p.s./

In an interview with the media, Prime Minister Edi Rama announced that Kukes Airport creates premises for a significant economic development in the entire area, while also talking about projects in this sector.

PM Rama stated that the airport of Vlora will be larger than that of Rinas, while regarding the airport of Kukës, he said that it creates premises for a significant economic development in the whole area.

Regarding Saranda airport, Rama said that it will be seasonal, emphasizing that the south of the country is one of the important tourist destinations.

“Kukës Airport creates premises for an important economic development in the whole area. While Vlora is on site. There is set a deadline of 36 months for Vlora airport. We will try to be a little ahead, so that it starts operation within the current mandate. Vlora will be the base of “Air Albania”. Another project is Saranda. Saranda Airport has a different nature, because it is only seasonal. Vlora will be all year round and will be larger than that of Tirana because cargo is included. A bigger runway, too”, said PM Rama.

PM Rama expressed his conviction that tourism will be a great transformer in all economic aspects and in 2030 Albania will be the country with the most developed tourism in the Western Balkans.

“Albania in terms of tourism is becoming more and more attractive and the second as a result of a more liberal policy that we pursued in times of pandemics. As the prices dropped drastically at Tirana Airport, only “Wizz Air” has saved about 120 million Euros to the citizens and by calculating other companies, about 220 million Euros are saved from tickets due to the reduction. With the abolition of the border tax, there will be another reduction of tickets. I am convinced that tourism will be a great transformer in all economic aspects and in 2030 Albania will be the country with the most developed tourism in the Western Balkans “, said Prime Minister Rama.

After successful tests, the “Wizz Air” Co. landed its planes at Kukës International Airport “ZAYED – North Wings”, where it will operate with the first 4 destinations to Austria, Germany and Switzerland, initially twice a week./p.s./