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Construction of the captain's office in Pogradec/ Municipality project to invest in the construction of a port

2025-01-24 13:43:00, Qyteti im CNA

The city of Pogradec is one of the most favorite destinations for visitors during the summer season, and not only.

A city whose biggest attraction is the lake along with the fantastic landscape it offers in every season of the year. In recent years, Pogradec has experienced a significant increase in domestic and foreign tourists, who stay for more than a weekend, enjoying the beauties of the lake city.

Pogradec has a very strong connection with Ohrid in Macedonia, where through tourist guides, these two cities have created a connecting bridge across the lake to receive and escort tourists. What is noticeable in a city that should have boats, ships and sailing yachts, is the lack of a captain's office.

Regarding this issue, CNA TV conducted an interview with the Mayor of Pogradec, Ilir Xhakoli, who explained the current situation, while emphasizing that the project for investment in the construction of a port, including the captaincy within it, is ready.

"Pogradec is a tourist city and its biggest attraction is the lake because we identify with it. In fact, it's not that we have used it so much, you know that in addition to the excellent landscape that Pogradec has, and everything else, there is also the lake which is a treasure for our city.

We have not used it due to the lack of a port authority. So, we have made our efforts as a municipality because even in the calls that the European Union has applied, the municipality has participated and for 2-3 years we have won 500 thousand euros of the value together with our colleagues from Ohrid, but it has not functioned due to the lack of a pier or a port that Pogradec needs and of course a port authority monitored with the Radar system.

In fact, our neighbors in Ohrid have a captaincy and this removes those bureaucracies that hinder the free movement of vessels, tourist boats or boats through the lake. An agreement has been made between the two governments, but the lack of a pier that we already have the project ready to invest, to create a port with all the data of a port by including the captaincy inside.

Acknowledging the fact that many red tapes have been encountered regarding this situation, Xhakolli emphasizes that in the coming days they will address a request to the Ministry of Transport to provide a captaincy and the construction of a Rada system that will interact with the current Ohrid system, so that the operation of the floating transport vehicles can begin.

Construction of the captain's office in Pogradec/ Municipality project to

"In the meantime, we will make a request to the Ministry of Transport, which is the line ministry, because we have noticed that citizens are not very interested due to the lack of a port, but also the bureaucracy since they have to go all the way to Durres to get permits, so it has not worked. These days, we will send a letter to the Ministry of Transport, asking them to provide us with a captain and the construction of a Radar system that will interact with the Ohrid system, so that the means of floating transport can begin to function through the lake, but also within it."

The construction of a captain's office in the city of Pogradec would be one of the most important investments and achievements of this municipality, because this investment would bring a doubling of visitors.

The mayor, Xhakoli, also indicated that there has been interest from citizens, who have also purchased several sailing boats, but bureaucracy has been the only obstacle to their operation. Part of the project designed by the Municipality of Pogradec also consists of a runway where boats can be anchored and avoid their standing on the sand.

Construction of the captain's office in Pogradec/ Municipality project to

The Mayor of Pogradec, Ilir Xhakoli

"I believe that as we said a little while ago, in addition to the tourists who have come for the qualities that Pogradec has, we will undoubtedly add twice as many tourists because our idea is to use Ohrid airport through the lake and floating boats.

There has been interest, you know it's a ship, but it's not working because of maybe its conditions or even the circumstances of its owners. Some of the sailing boats have been purchased, just like the ones in Ohrid, but anyway, it's this bureaucracy that's holding them back. We're trying to make a runway at the lakeside statue simply for anchoring these tourist boats so that citizens and those who want to sail on boats, even if they have to enter through the sand, can board these sailing vessels. I believe that by creating these conditions, there will be greater purchases and interest from citizens."

The project designed by the Municipality of Pogradec to invest in the construction of a port, where there will also be a captain's office, will be one of the most important achievements, which will pave the way for tourism between the two neighboring countries, as well as increase the number of domestic and foreign visitors./ CNA