Prime Minister Edi Rama issued a strong warning this Friday to construction companies that violate building permits by carrying out unauthorized additions within permitted structures.

Rama emphasized that all builders committing such violations will pay a heavy price and end up in jail, urging them not to scapegoat site managers.

“You can’t have a construction project and then make an illegal addition, and if you get caught, nothing happens – and then the state has to handle the demolition and cleanup. That’s unacceptable and unfair. Whoever adds unauthorized structures to a permitted project must pay dearly – very dearly!

And to those involved in construction, I say: Don’t drag site administrators down with you! They will go to jail, just like others already have – for failing to comply with permits and for unauthorized construction within permitted areas,” Rama stated.

Regarding institutional actions, Rama pointed out that “the games begin with the Municipal Construction Inspectorate (IMT), sometimes with the National Inspectorate for Territorial Protection (IKMT) and municipal police,” which often claim, “this person has an unauthorized extension, but the building itself is permitted.”

“The games often start with IMT, and then IKMT and the municipal police say, ‘This is just an unauthorized addition, but the building has a permit.’ There is no such thing as ‘permitted building with an unauthorized addition.’ Albanian taxpayers’ money cannot go toward cleaning up rubble and thousands of cubic meters of concrete from demolitions,” Rama said.