P 271511Z JUN 08
FM AMEMBASSY TIRANA
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7217
INFO EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS TIRANA 000487 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/SCE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL ECON AL
 
SUBJECT: THIS WEEK IN ALBANIA - THE ROAD ISSUE, JUNE 21 - JUNE 27, 
2008 
 
¶1.  (U) The following is a weekly report prepared by Embassy 
Tirana's local staff to provide political and economic context and 
insight into developments in Albania.  This week's issue focuses on 
the current state of the construction of Albania's most ambitious 
road project to date. 
 
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INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENTS 
--------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (U) Massive Road Construction Project Underway: The most 
ambitious road construction project in Albania's history is underway 
as we speak.  The new four lane highway connecting Albania's largest 
port in Durres with Kosovo will be 170 km long and is expected to 
cut travel time from six hours to just two.  About 111 km of the 
road will be completely new, cutting across the mountain valleys of 
northern Albania, and ensuring a low altitude for the road in order 
to avoid heavy winter snowfalls in the area.  The most important 
stretch of the highway, the 61 km Rreshen-Kalimash segment, includes 
two six-km tunnels and 27 bridges and involves the movement of more 
than 19 million tons of cubic meters of land.  Both tunnels and one 
of the bridges (80 m long) are some of the most impressive ever 
built in the region.  The new road is expected to increase travel 
speed from a mere 20 mph to about 70 mph. 
 
¶3.  (U) All of these figures, however, don't sink in until you go 
and visit the construction site for yourself.  From Tirana it takes 
roughly two hours to reach the main base camp of Bechtel-Enka, the 
joint venture building the road.  The base camp provides lodging and 
office facilities for the approximately 3000 people currently 
engaged in this enormous construction project; dozens of 
prefabricated offices and apartment houses dot the landscape. 
 
¶4.  (U) One can get an initial grasp of the sheer magnitude of the 
project by looking at the blueprints and the number of design 
engineers moving about the site.  The true picture, however, becomes 
clear when you begin traveling along the stretch of the new road 
leading through one of the most impressive valleys of Albania's 
northern region.  Heavy-duty machinery, bulldozers, and trucks are 
constantly changing the landscape of the lower hills, removing whole 
segments of the mountain as they prepare the ground for the road. 
Several newly built bridges are already in place and most of the 
material for the 20 other bridges have been prefabricated. 
 
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TWIN TUNNELS 
------------ 
 
¶5.  (U) Once you reach the second camp located at the end of Mount 
Thirra you can get a glimpse of the two new tunnels underway.  They 
cut through the mountain in what is the first tunnel project in 
Albania - blasting through 12 km of solid rock.  Bechtel-Enka built 
a dirt road across the mountain that provides transportation for the 
workers needing to reach both sides of the tunnels, while inside the 
mountain work continues uninterrupted.  According to site engineers, 
50 percent of the tunnel excavation has already taken place with 
assurances that one tunnel will be completed by June 2009. 
 
¶6.  (U) Inside the tunnel American design engineers, Turkish 
specialized staff, and Albanian local employees work together 
seamlessly.  Many Albanians speak some Turkish, and many Turkish 
workers have an Albanian family background, an example of the 
enduring legacy of the Ottoman Empire.  Work is conducted 
simultaneously at four tunnel worksites, and heavy machinery removes 
the dirt while iron supporters are placed, bracing the roof of the 
new tunnel.  Every day six meters of tunnel on each end is 
completed, shortening the distance to when the two ends will finally 
meet. 
 
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WHAT'S AT STAKE? 
---------------- 
 
¶7.  (U) Prime Minister Berisha has staked a lot on the success of 
this road project.  The GOA has so far invested 640 million euros, 
and it is estimated that the cost may shoot up to as high as 800 
million euros.  The government has also faced significant legal 
challenges. The current Minister of Foreign Affairs Lulzim Basha (he 
is the former Transportation Minister who initiated the project 
during his tenure there) has been investigated over allegations of 
violations of legal codes related to the project.  Three other 
senior officials have been charged with abuse of office, again over 
allegations that they bypassed legal procedures to get the project 
underway. 
 
¶8.  (U) The continually increasing cost of the project has also 
become a matter of significant controversy.  The initial cost 
estimate of 450 million euros has long since been surpassed.  So 
far, however, the government has been able to compensate for the 
increase of cost with greater revenue collection and 
commercial-based loans.  While assertions of illegal actions have 
yet to be proven, one thing is clear: that PM Berisha considers the 
project a top priority for his government, and he will not let any 
legal technicalities get in his way. His hopes are that the road 
will provide a new transportation link to the coast for land-locked 
Kosovo and significantly deepen regional economic ties. 
Furthermore, he believes that successful completion of this road 
will, in the end, dispel any controversy and give him the boost he 
needs to win reelection in 2009. 
 
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QUOTES ON THE ROAD 
------------------ 
 
¶9.  (U) "Prime Minister of Albania, Sali Berisha, all Albanians will 
be forever grateful to you for this extraordinary contribution. We 
also commit ourselves to push ahead with the project of the 
Prishtina-Vkrnica-Merdare road [Kosovo road segment of the highway] 
and will start construction work this year."  Excerpted from Kosovo 
Prime Minister Hashim Thaci's address to Albanian PM Berisha on the 
importance of the Albania-Kosovo road project. 
 
WITHERS