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Road without expropriation in Gurras-Tushemisht/ Residents: 120 families remain without land, works started without warning

2025-10-28 12:17:00, Sociale CNA

Road without expropriation in Gurras-Tushemisht/ Residents: 120 families remain

A new road connecting the village of Gurras with Tushemisht, in the administrative unit of Buçimas, is becoming a concern for dozens of families in the area. Residents say the project has encroached on their agricultural lands, but no official notification or expropriation procedure has been made regarding this.

According to them, about 120 families have been affected by the works, while in some cases the road has passed directly through properties that have regular ownership certificates. Residents said they were only notified about the road after the works had started, while heavy vehicles have entered their agricultural lands without warning. Fatbardha Cake says that the land where she had planned to plant walnuts has been taken over by the road route. According to her, although they have requested clarification from the municipality, they have not received any response for months and no assessment for compensation has been made.

"We are protesting about the land problem, they have occupied my land. My husband and I came to plant walnuts, when they told us that this is for a road. The excavator was working, they told us that we have an order from the municipality. We went to the municipality, they told us that they will give us the papers in 10-15 days. This situation has been going on for 6 months. We are demanding the expropriation of the land and an assessment. No notice, they have done nothing to us. The new road is being built on my land. The road is currently on my land. The road started on May 20, we have a regular certificate," said Cake.

Road without expropriation in Gurras-Tushemisht/ Residents: 120 families remain

Other residents also say they have lost significant portions of their land, while they have not been provided with any documents showing how much land has been taken and what amount they will be compensated. They say the works are nearing completion, while no one has provided them with legal clarifications.

"I am a resident of the village of Zagorçan. When the road was opened, they took up 500 meters of my land. We have not received any notice from the municipality, nor an assessment with a reasonable price. We have not received any maps of how much land they have taken up. We have gone to the municipality and we are interested. The end is coming when the road will be closed and there is no assessment, no map, nothing. We are worried that they do not recognize our land," said a resident.

Another resident says that his livelihood depends solely on agricultural land, which has already been taken over by the road. He is seeking the intervention of institutions to receive the compensation he is entitled to and to protect his property rights.

"I have 1 dunyam of land, that's all I can live on, the land. I was in Greece, I returned and as soon as I found out they had taken the land, they had thrown gravel. What will I live on? I have one hand, I get 20 thousand in assistance. I demand my rights, they haven't asked us at all. I have everything with certificates. We demand our rights, expropriation, a solution for all the villagers," said a resident.

Residents call on the Municipality of Pogradec to intervene immediately, to carry out an inventory of the occupied areas and an assessment for expropriation, warning that, otherwise, the protests will continue until the problem is resolved. /CNA