“Road of death” in Torovica, 3 million euros were thrown, but the residents risk their lives again!

The Balldre-Torovica axis is considered as the “road of death”, but even after the reconstruction of 3 million euros, large stones fall on the road again. In October 2017, a large rock broke off the mountain and took the lives of 3 people, two brothers and the pregnant wife of one of them. They were traveling in an off-road vehicle when suddenly a large rock broke off the mountain and hit their car. After this accident, the road was rebuilt in 2019, but even after the reconstruction again the danger is the same.

Residents of the area complain that such stones break off on rainy days, endangering homes and vehicles moving in the act. “I was here the day of the accident in October 2017. Horror, some dead. But even after this time we are in danger again. Stones fall on our houses, in our gardens and on the streets. We are afraid to live. When it rains we are watching from the mountain “says a resident, who has a house near the place where the accident took place in October 2017. Meanwhile, a few meters away, a couple have taken out their cattle to graze. They say a large boulder, the same as that of the 2017 crash, is about to break off the mountain. “We are afraid to live. A large stone is about to break. Meanwhile, smaller stones fall whenever it rains. They fall on the street, at home. “Until now, God has protected us,” they say.

Meanwhile, after the accident, the government remembered to reconstruct this degraded segment. According to the documents, the Albanian Development Fund allocated 379 million ALL for the road used by 10 thousand inhabitants of the Lezha and Shkodra area. The 19-kilometer-long road was completed in December 2019. But two years later, the situation is still problematic. In winter, stones slide down the mountain, endangering the lives of users of this road. The same problematic as that of October 2017. Residents complain that the company that made the road, just paved the asphalt, while not providing a solution to the rock slide.

According to the documents available to Fiks Fare, the company that carried out the works on this road is ALBTIEFBAU, while the tender was developed by the Albanian Development Fund. The total value of the construction was about 3 million euros. But, who was wrong that the phenomenon of rock slides continued, the Municipality of Lezha that designed it or the contracting firm ?! Fiks Fare contacted the engineer of this firm. Fiks Fare journalists contacted the engineer of this firm, Fatjon Pashi, who says that “we have done works only on the road”. According to him, the ADF project was only for road and water discipline. “We have only done asphalting and water discipline, walls up to 1 meter that prevent small stones from falling on the road. “We did not have mountain protection,” says the engineer. According to him, such rehabilitation costs a lot, given that the dangerous area is too long. He further claims that the tender was made by the ADF and in the end, the road was taken over by the Municipality of Lezha.

But, since December 2019, the local and central government have not given a decision on who should maintain it. Fiks Fare talked with Sander Marashi, the administrator of the Balldre Administrative Unit in Lezha. He says that this phenomenon has been in Torovica for years, as the mountain slope is steep and from erosion and cutting of trees. He says that the municipality finds it impossible to make such a project, as the mountain slope is too high and requires intervention by engineering forces. “Some engineers have come and made measurements, but it takes explosions at heights to crush dangerous stones,” he said.

The problem of the danger of this road was also discussed in the Municipal Council of Lezha, where the Mayor, Pjerin Ndreu, said that he asked for help from the Albanian Road Authority. “We have requested intervention from ARA. we cooperate with the government on these issues. We are in contact “said Ndreu in a meeting of this Council. But, to date, ARA has not taken any measures, both for maintenance and for the phenomenon of rock slides, endangering the lives of travelers and residents of the area.

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