Fires in Himara, Ina Zhupa: Municipality has more than €130 million in tenders, but firefighting service cannot handle emergencies

Democratic Party MP Ina Zhupa has reacted to the severe situation caused by fires in Himara, accusing the municipality of failing to use public funds to ensure the protection of citizens.

According to Zhupa, Himara has a large budget, and this year alone, tenders have amounted to more than €130 million, she says, while the firefighting service still lacks the vehicles, equipment and capacity needed to intervene in time.

The MP has called on the Himara Municipality to immediately approve a special fund to compensate residents affected by the fire, demanding a genuine assessment of the damage and swift payment.

Zhupa says the incident has highlighted the lack of political will to direct public money toward services that protect citizens’ lives and property.

According to her, Himara has been covered in concrete, while the municipal budget has been boosted by millions of euros, including through the donation of public land to strategic investors. She emphasizes that the Himara Municipality has a budget of around €10,000 per capita, while Tirana, the country’s largest city and main economic power, has less than €1,000 per capita.

Zhupa says that more than €130 million in tenders were awarded by Vangjel Tavo in just one year. With these funds, she says, Himara should have had a model firefighting service equipped with the vehicles, personnel and capacity to respond immediately when a fire broke out.

She criticizes the fact that the response, according to her, is delayed until the flames reach a scale that exceeds the capabilities of local services.

The MP says that when public funds are spent on facades, projects and beautification tenders instead of being invested in services that protect lives and property, citizens bear the cost.

“Citizens pay with the homes that burn down, the land they lose, the businesses that are destroyed and the savings of a lifetime that disappear within a few hours,” Zhupa says.

She calls on the Himara Municipality to urgently decide to establish a compensation fund, arguing that the institution has the financial capacity to support the affected residents.

Zhupa emphasizes that residents have lost not only hectares of burned land, but also their homes, property, jobs, savings and the work of a lifetime.

According to her, public money must be used for citizens, who cannot be left abandoned in the face of these major losses.