Vetevendosje Movement Seeks Shpend Ahmeti's Resign

The lack of capital investments year-on-year is constantly following the Pristina municipality, the only 9m-euro exploitation of 49m euros, in the last nine months of 2019, is considered failure and mismanagement by President Shpend Ahmeti.

The opposition in the capital and those monitoring the executives' work say all these excessive means would have to be exploited in many other dictatorships. All these accusations -- the first of Pristina municipality -- Shpend Ahmeti argues with delays in procurement and procrastination in old projects.

The Kosovo Democratic League's ambassador, Agim Gashi for Kosova Press, the current governing of the capital, is deemed weak and unrecognisable.

According to him, it is not successful to spend money only on third and fourth-class roads.

Gashi: This government is being recklessly weak.

There is plenty of room to invest, there is a great need for investment. While this government is being unsuccessful, weak and unaware. The municipalities' development policies with this intensity, with this planning and feasibility power... are not spent 48 million on third and fourth-class roads. Roads of rural settlements cannot be spent. It requires investment in collectors, on the part of A Street, behind the Palace of Justice, then on to school objects”, Gashi claims.

The most critical of municipal government is the Vetvendosje Movement's assistant, Eman Kundman, who, in turn, considers failure, says Shpend Ahmeti must resign.

According to him, there is no point in a mayor staying in his position when he does not know how to use 40m euros dedicated to capital investments.

Fighter: There's no point in Ahmet being mayor

Pristina's <x0m-communa has a budget for capital investments for 2019, about 50m euros, or over 49m euros for capital investments. These have been invested for nine months -- once around 9m euros -- that is, not even 20 per cent of capital investments have passed. This is extremely harmful to the city of Pristina because of the needs for capital investments. We need to build schools, build nests, build parks, all of these tools are being kept uninvested due to the neglect and lack of executive knowledge. We need investments in the sewer network, when we see the neighborhoods what the situation is... there's no point in having a leader stand further when there's 40 million euros left unscathed. There's no point in a municipality manager when they don't know how to use the means that are dedicated for investment”, he says.

Meanwhile, from the Progress Initiative, “INPO”, which monitors the municipality of Pristina, Arifi, says that for no capital investment, the main blame is poor management and poor planning of Shpend Ahmeti.

Arifi: Factors and evidence are bad planning and bad management

“The factors are divided, but is largely concentrated on bad planning and bad management. Why is planning and bad management? Bad planning because the research units that are municipal director when predicting a project only look at the cost of performing jobs. They link contracts, but there's no cost of drilling at all. Most of these projects are blocked due to property problems. So it's a waste of planning because the cost of drilling is planned, most of these projects are blocked because of property problems... and we have a lot of projects that start, they don't have property problems, but jobs are neglected by economic operators, and municipalities don't take measures against those operators, just as they're seen in the Public Procurement Law and other monitoring regulations in this ER”, he says.

And the capital's first, Shpend Ahmeti, all these accusations and criticisms being addressed against him, says they are biased and repeated each year.

As for the excess of 40m euros in the past nine months for capital investments, the first of the municipality argues with the prolonged procurement procedures. He stresses that this year the procurement plan has ended 100 per cent and that money will not be lost, but will simply be carried for the same project next year.

Ahmeti: Using is happening because there are several years of projects and extended procurement

There's no such thing as 20 percent 30, and it creates the conviction that's left and can't be spent. Even last year in December, there was a loud noise that 25 million have exceeded, see most of those funds have been spent this year. So it's very simple that carrying happens that there's a more lasting procurement, it has several years of projects. It may be that the private revenues we collect in September-November are money coming, then we can't declare the procurement. The good thing about this is that this year we've carried out the procurement plan 100 percent, we've signed all the contracts, and now we're in implementation. The rest of this year's work is done, the rest of the year, money doesn't get lost. The effect on the economy, in the budget, is the same, as the same money is spent”, Ahmeti says.

The Pristina municipality has also been accused in the early years of not spending means for capital investments. While some projects have remained in half as construction of cholera in the neighbourhood “Calabria” due to property problems.