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Shkruar nga Pamfleti
The Prosecutor's Office of Tirana officially announced the charges for illegal construction to the managers and engineers of the Salillari and Arb&Trans 2010 companies, who are accused of violating construction permits with several thousand square meters in the capital, while the builders claimed that they had not been aware.
When asked by the prosecutor about the additional 2,414 square meters in the building that the company Salillari sh.pk was building near the Zoo, Lulzim Salillari, the company's administrator at the time of construction, insisted that he had not been aware.
Salillari even told the prosecutor that he learned about the floors without permission only when the case was made public in the media.
"He has clarified that he was not aware of this fact and he became aware of it when the Minister of the Interior went to the facility and made it public," says the document announcing the charge of the Prosecutor's Office of Tirana.
However, the Prosecutor's Office of Tirana considered their testimonies unbelievable and after an almost 2-year investigation brought the charge of "illegal construction" against the Salillari company and its administrator, Lulzim Salillari.
"From the analysis of all the circumstances, it is concluded that all the suspects were aware of the construction in serious violation of the construction permit and in these conditions, they continued to give their contribution to continue with the situation of illegality" , it is stated in the act of notification of the charge by the prosecutor Arenc Çela, at the same time head of the Prosecutor's Office of Tirana.
The document announcing the charges from the Prosecutor's Office hints that the buildings in violation of the construction permit were tolerated, despite the fact that the IMT inspectors of the Municipality of Tirana claimed to have exercised controls and the violations were fined.
The buildings built by Salillari and Arb&Trans 2010 were seized with fanfare through a controversial government decision, which then enabled them to buy back the unauthorized additions at 10 times lower than market prices.
The charge of illegal construction in cooperation with profit-making purposes provides sentences from 3 to 8 years in prison according to the Criminal Code. The accused could not be reached for comment until the publication of this article.
A blind eye to unauthorized floors
The Prosecutor's Office of Tirana began investigations into the buildings that had violated construction permits in the capital in 2022, when the additional floors of the complexes were publicly denounced by members of the government and then confiscated in decisions of the KKT.
The two buildings for which the prosecution has completed investigations belong to a group of 25 objects - mainly in the capital, that were confiscated in whole or in part by the National Council of the Territory, KKT based on the Decision of the Council of Ministers 589/2022, after it was found that they had violated building permits.
BIRN found earlier that after a controversial process, which according to experts and the opposition violates the equality of citizens before the law, the buildings were resold to Salillari and Arb&Trans 2010 companies at prices 10 times lower than the market. In the process of repurchase, both companies have admitted that they had violated construction permits, by signing the relevant contracts with the Ministry of Finance.
The investigations carried out by the Prosecutor's Office of Tirana have revealed that the violations of building permits were known to the local inspection officials and the police, but the interventions to stop the illegality were lukewarm.
In the investigations for the Arb&Trans 2010 building on "Myslym Shyri" street, IMT inspectors claim that they had referred their findings to the police in January 2022, considering this action sufficient as a criminal complaint.
City inspectors have testified that they found permit violations. The violations were not only in the fact that floors were added, but also in changing the project.
But during the control at the construction site, the inspectors claimed that they did not find any responsible person and left the report at the construction site.
Regarding the Salillari company owned by businessman Pëllumb Salillari, the prosecution points out that the addition was denounced by citizens in July 2022 and the investigations officially began in September of the same year.
By the inspectors of the IMT near the municipality of Tirana, the violations were found in July 2021, when the company was fined.
"The inspection found a lack of documentation at the construction site, a violation of the technical conditions of construction and a lack of confirmation of the start of the works", the municipality officials are quoted in the Prosecution document.
Meanwhile, the head of the legal sector at the Municipality of Tirana claimed that the company had been fined earlier for the violations found in the construction before the palace was publicly denounced, but told the prosecutor's office that she did not know why no criminal charges had been filed.
The prosecution found in the investigations that a demolition decision was initially made for the buildings by IKMT, but that was suspended due to their entry into the process of confiscation and repurchase of additions. Also, the Construction Institute estimated that the structures of these buildings would not be stable if the unauthorized additions were demolished.
Self-standing buildings
Just like the builders, also the supervisors of the works and the technical managers of the companies who had to be present during the work process, told the prosecutor Çela during the interrogation that they did not know about the additional floors.
Skënder Çota, engineer of the company Instituti i Konsulença en Ndretim "IKN" shpk, which is also under accusation, told the prosecution that he had been a supervisor for the works at the construction site of the Salillari company only during the opening of the foundation pit and had no knowledge for extras.
According to him, the supervision then passed to the engineer Ilir Zmalaj by verbal order, but the latter also claims that he was not aware of the additions and that he learned about them only when he saw the statement of the Minister of the Interior at the time, Bledi Çuçi. Zmalaj says he was on vacation in Sweden at the time. He also says that he did not perform inspections at the construction site, as the Salillari company did not notify him. "They were not notified by the contractor in writing or verbally about the preparation of the conditions for the 0.00 quota control act," he says.
The administrator of the company himself has excused himself that he did not follow the works at the construction site and was not present. He has passed the responsibility for the violations to his employees.
"He does not live in the facility and does not direct the works personally at any construction site of the company "Salillari" shpk and directs the works through the engineering-technical personnel that he appoints in accordance with the law and they are responsible for the implementation of the works according to the project and technical conditions of implementation", Salillari is quoted by the prosecution.
Salillari also insisted that he himself did not give any order to build additional floors.
The same situation emerges from the testimonies collected by the managers and representatives of the company Arb&Trans 2010. The administrator of this company does not appear to have given evidence, but the other responsible persons have all denied knowledge of the permit violation.
Engineers Dritan Gjoni, technical manager Orgeta Kapllani, surveyor Edmond Ndoj and supervisor of works, Hysni Gjoci have claimed lack of responsibility and knowledge. Gjoci claimed that the company told him that the project would be changed due to impossible forms and that an application was made for this.
Kapllani, who was supposed to be at the site, according to the prosecution, insisted that she did not visit it and was not involved in the construction. Engineer Dritan Gjoni has claimed that his responsibility was not related to the implementation of the permit, but the contracts with third parties and the purchases needed for the construction.
The prosecution insists that these people and the companies they represent were in fact aware of the violation of the law. "In the present case, it turns out that the defendants cited above are accomplices in the commission of the criminal offense of illegal construction carried out for the purpose of profit provided for by Article 199/a/4 and 25 of the Penal Code", the documents state notice of charge. / BIRN
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