Tirana locals block a new road

21/12/2007

People in one neighborhood of the Albanian capital oppose infrastructure improvements that would encroach on their property. Are they justified?

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Property rights, a political party founded by journalists, and mistreatment at foreign airports are among the topics on the minds of Albanian bloggers this week.

Writing at peshkupauje, Blendi criticises the residents of one Tirana neighborhood, who have been blocking infrastructure projects that would encroach on their property.

"It is normal that those who have children will want also a road in order for them to go to school, will want to go very fast to the doctor when they need to, and also to go out into their city," he writes. The residents "know that the benefits of a road are more valuable than a thousand kitchen gardens" yet "the intervention of the state, even for a new road, seems to them threatening."

Such recalcitrance hides a dirty secret, Blendi suggests: "They are not legal owners. With their disobedience, they hope to cover the fact that they built on land that wasn't theirs."

The law should be applied firmly, comments Perparimi, saying otherwise "they will do their best to expand their property even more by moving the fence."

At shekulli, Gezimi is concerned about a new party formed by journalists who say their rights have been denied. Prime Minister Sali Berisha has recognised the new party, but Gezimi wonders if it's a good idea to blur the boundaries between the media and politics.

"Is it right for journalists to start a political party?" he asks. "The journalists, oh Mr. Prime Minister, create newspaper articles not political parties. And how can we speak about journalists that are being censored by all the owners at the same time? In Tirana there are enough journals and television stations that each person who publishes in one journal can find a place at another that has a totally different mentality. And even if he doesn't find it at those two, there are still at least 100 others on the list."

Dino Dima comments: "What is this baloney that we hear about the journalists? Who is the journalist that made this intelligent proposal? If he is a journalist, with this idea he will lose his most important gift -- political independence."

Finally this week, Fatos writes at perpjekja about the travails endured by Albanians at foreign airports.

"A few days ago I protested to an Italian police authority about discrimination. While the passengers that were travelling to other European cities were passing through without being disturbed, the ones that were travelling to Tirana were stopped by a customs officer, and after they were interrogated by him, were made to enter a room where they were searched physically for money."

"The customs officer answered me: 'Eh, what can we do? Your fellow citizens make those things and they force us to act like this.'"

"I was forced to tell him an old Roman saying -- 'it is better to spare 100 guilty persons than to punish an innocent one. "' I told him, "You punish every day hundreds of innocent persons in order to get a guilty one."