Those responsible for the "paper roads"/ Why the wrong projects are destroying millions of Albanians

2026-02-16 14:34:00, Denoncim CNA

Two days ago, CNA and other media reported the collapse and blockage of part of the Maliq-Lozhan-Strelcë road axis, part of the Korçë-Gramsh segment.

At the first moment, the posts began, the accusations against the construction company, the entity "Gjikuria" sh.pk, etc.

Retaining wall collapses/ One lane of the Maliq-Lozhan road segment is blocked
February 15, 15:50

FOUR LINKS

What needs to be seen in essence is that it is not only the construction firm that is responsible, because there are four links. The first is the designer, the second is the builder, the third is the supervisor, and the fourth, over time, is the road maintainer, who maintains the road segment.

According to data provided by CNA, it turns out that the retaining wall, which is said to be free of iron, was designed as such.

The road design was done by THC sh.pk and Erald-G sh.pk, while the supervision of the works was carried out by CEC Group sh.pk, which says "concrete" and has the project, according to the document provided by CNA, which is 'concrete without iron'.

Those responsible for the "paper roads"/ Why the wrong projects are

Okay, let's go attack Gjikuri, Gjoka, Gener 2, Salillari, every company that builds roads in Albania. The problem is simple, the responsibility lies with the project implementers or supervisors.

If the project is done "step and go", where hundreds of millions of euros are spent and then the road slips because the right concrete parameters were not required, the right iron parameters were not required, the slope was not calculated, the water resources were not calculated and dozens of problems that arise, the designer is to blame.

If the builder implements the project 100% and on the way to the technical council, positive changes are requested for the project and they correct as much as the legal space allows, it is okay. The builder would be in trouble if the project was made of iron and that wall had fallen.

The designer said: Massive concrete wall. A massive concrete wall was built, a landslide occurred and it collapsed. This is what the designers calculate, not the builder. The builder would be at fault if the designer had made it with solid iron, so that that concrete wall could withstand the landslide of the hill, mountain, or various rainfalls, which can bring erosion or landslides.

In this case, this is an example of an alarm.

CNA has reported this before because we have projects like the Qukës-Qafë Plloçë road that cost over 300 million dollars, and in the meantime, a four-lane road to Korça could have been completed.

But a road was built where everyone had very high expectations, expecting a reduction in distance and time. In fact, there is no more than 20 minutes of reduction in time and only 9 kilometers in distance, and over 300 million euros have been wasted due to a completely flawed project.

VIDEO-Scandalous, the situation on the Qukës-Qafë Plloçë road, Lot II
January 24, 10:51

The Maliq-Lozhan-Gramsh road passes through the old trail.

There should have been many more corrections, the project should have been much more substantial, much more serious, not just to widen it a few meters and 'come on, we're laying asphalt and there's a secondary axis where it can pass'. No! A road with even more serious parameters should have been built, where with a little more money and a proper project we wouldn't be faced with this fact.

Roads are not falling apart only because of the achievements and works carried out by construction firms. No! Roads are also falling apart because they are poorly or very poorly designed . On the other hand, in cases where roads are not well implemented by builders, the problem lies with the supervisors who should not allow it.

So we are faced with the fact, who is responsible for the condition of our roads in Albania?

The designer is private, paid by the state. The builder is private, paid by the state. The supervisor is private, paid by the state. The problem starts with the first designer, who is not of high standards or does not recognize the European quality of roads. They are designers of the 'where the camel calls' standard.

We're not going any further than the supervisors and I'm not defending the construction firms at all, but to build a wall like this that you see on the outside and it falls down after six months because the designer didn't put iron in it, and then start shouting and accusing either the firm, the supervisor or the ARRSH, which here has a mistake related to the acceptance of the project and its quality.

The implementation is according to the project, the road, the concrete support has fallen, it was designed without iron and here the designers are responsible who are causing many investments in various road axes in Albania to have major problems due to faulty projects from their beginning.

Without a clear vision to gain in time, without a clear vision to gain in kilometers, without a clear vision to build roads with European quality standards, which our designers seem to look back on./ CNA