In the early hours of the morning, police forces surrounded the area near "5 Maji" where the next action of the Territory Protection Inspectorate (IMT) was planned.
In order not to allow the demolition of their homes, the residents resisted in different ways. Some women formed a cordon to prevent the demolition of their houses, others clashed with the police. The police threw tear gas into some of the houses where the resistance was strongest.
Five residents were escorted to the police station after trying to defend their homes. Gjin Nikolli, Laureta Nikolli, Agim Marku, Andi Marku and Mirash Marku were sent to region number 4.
"We were on the terrace and I was actually filming and they threw tear gas at us, we went down immediately because we could hardly breathe and my husband and I approached and opened the whole gate", tells Citizens Channel Alisa Cerri, whose house collapsed today. Her apartment was in the process of being legalized.
Alsida says that her husband was accompanied to the police station and that she has not had any contact with him for hours.
"Come in, come on, break it up, we told him, and what my husband asked you, in fact, he told him if, he approached the head of the police station, he told him how is it possible that today is my daughter's birthday and you come and break my back, but he didn't give him any explanation, they just accompanied him to the police station and he has been in the police station for an hour and a half or two hours and I have no contact with him because he does not answer the phone", adds Alsida.
Of the 12 apartments that were demolished today, February 22, none had signed the expropriation contract. Four of the houses that collapsed were legalized together with the land, three of the owners only had the house legalized but not the land and the rest were in the process of legalization. In this area, 400 apartments are expected to be demolished, as part of the Tirana Riverside project.
Klaudia Gjini, a resident of May 5, says that the only solution you have left is to leave the country.
"We will stay at our aunt's place, then we will leave this country, we will go to Italy. We're leaving, what are we going to do here, it's not worth it anymore. We are not going to live with rent, if we sign, we will not sign, we will leave", she told Citizens Channel.
Fatmira Sejdini, another resident of 5 Maji, tells about the difficulties she went through to build the house.
"We suffered from the system, we were also persecuted, however, they exiled us from our country and took us directly to the ghetto, during the time of Enver, 78. We have not experienced this and we are very sorry that the ghetto we have done with sweat, with debts, with great effort to make our children happy, today we are no longer able to make other houses", she said to Citizens.
Mark Deda, whose house was demolished on the 19th, says that his brother's apartment was demolished today.
"Here, as you can see with your own eyes, there is a massacre taking place, here the whole neighborhood will collapse", he said.
According to the residents, the buildings inaugurated by Tirana Municipality for the earthquake homeless are still empty, even though completed.
"The buildings are empty, the buildings he built for the earthquake are empty, he didn't even put them inside the buildings, they are all empty, there is no one inside the buildings", Liljana Mema, a resident of the "5 Maji" neighborhood, told the Citizens Channel ".
Demolition of homes amid lack of information and legal violations
In one Espaitec's, Citizens Channel brought the voices of two May 5 residents whose homes collapsed today.
"Perhaps it is absurd to say it, but we were informed through social networks that in the 5 Maji area or unit no. 8 and unit no. 4 there will be development of the area for reasons of reconstruction or post earthquake with normative act no. 9", said Bekimi, a resident of the area.
While Gjin Nikolli said that he is not against the reconstruction of the area and the accommodation of the homeless, but he does not agree with the way the residents are being treated and the whole process is being developed.
Lawyer Dorina Asllanaj argues that the contract is one-sided and against citizens.
"The contracts that have been proposed to the residents have been delivered to their homes by the municipality employees, that is, in the absence of a notary. The notary must be there to verify the legality of the whole process, in this case it did not happen ", she emphasizes.
Not only from the legal side, but also from the urban planning side, according to experts, the reconstruction process in the May 5 area has a number of bottlenecks.
"Residents are being stigmatized, apart from seeing their houses being destroyed every day, they also hear the language, the divisive rhetoric of the city leaders, the mayor who calls them cavemen, uses language that incites a provincial division. It really feels like there's a gentrification going on, like there's a cleansing going on.", says architect Dorina Pllumbi.
He completed master's studies in Investigative Journalism at the Department of Journalism at the University of Tirana. She has been working as a journalist for five years, where she previously covered issues of politics and parliamentary activity, in print and online media. She is currently a journalist at Citizens.al, where she covers various social issues related to the transparency of institutions. At Citizens.al, she leads the podcast "The Unheard" and is engaged as a manager of projects related to the support of investigative journalism.
