During a joint conference with Ambassador Luigi Soreca and foreign experts, Minister Blendi Cuci stated that “experts have estimated that damages in verified dwellings reach the value to 985 million euros”
Cuci said in his speech that about 90 people, including 60 foreign and local experts, as well as officials of Albanian institutions, would complete the evaluation report on January 30, 2020.
A similar amount was also given by Rama in Italy, where in an informal conversation with the Italian minister, he said “the damage is about 1 billion euros”.
He said that despite this difficult and unusual situation for our country, the Albanian government undertook immediate measures for the search and rescue operation in the ruins and also for sheltering the families left homeless.
Cuci said that the Post Disaster Needs Assessments (PDNA) report was drafted in line with the standards of three EU organizations, the World Bank and the United Nations Agencies and with the same methodology used in cases of natural disasters in the world.
“EUR 985,074,906 is the total damage according to post-earthquake damage calculations. The report has acquired data through the system of verification and on-line reporting of damages. Along with the establishment of this system, over 50 thousand buildings which make up 80% of the total earthquake damaged buildings and 100% all buildings with high risk were verified at a fast pace. Even mayors also provided some invaluable assistance, and in parallel with this process, 4 surveys were conducted in all 3 counties to identify the social and economic consequences of households and businesses”.
To fulfill all needs and address any issues, as well as the risks of future natural disasters, is required a joint mobilization of financial resources. I believe that this will happen at the EU Donor Conference, said Cuci./abcnews.al
