Ina Zhupa Raises Alarm Over Situation in Gjashtë: Residents Without Water for Three Months, €400,000 Spent on Project

Democratic Party MP Ina Zhupa has accused Sarandë Municipality and the Sarandë Regional Water Supply and Sewerage Company of mismanaging public funds and delaying the construction of the water distribution network in Gjashtë.

She said the project had cost approximately €400,000 including VAT, but work has continued beyond the contractual deadline and, according to her, fails to meet acceptable quality standards.

Zhupa said Gjashtë has been without running water for more than three months, at the height of the tourist season.

The MP described the situation as a serious failure by the responsible institutions and called for transparency over the funds spent, explanations for the delays, and accountability for the conditions residents are facing.

In her full statement, Zhupa said €400,000 in taxpayers’ money had been spent on the water supply network in Gjashtë, Sarandë, while residents remain without water and work is being carried out beyond the deadlines, at a standard she compared to the Middle Ages.

For the construction of the water distribution network in the village of Gjashtë, Sarandë Municipality, through the Sarandë Regional Water Supply and Sewerage Company JSC, awarded the project to COGREN shpk for 33,333,330 lek excluding VAT. This amounts to around €330,000 excluding VAT and approximately €400,000 including VAT.

Although the contract stipulated a period of just eight months and the work was due to be completed in December 2025, it has still not been finished.

According to the MP, the area looks like a neglected construction site, with dug-up roads, mud, and makeshift work, as though it had been taken back several decades to the Middle Ages.

According to Zhupa, the most serious problem remains the lack of water for more than three months. During the busiest period of the tourist season, families have been forced to live in unacceptable conditions, while their protests have gone unanswered. She said the situation is severely harming both residents’ livelihoods and tourism.

The MP demanded clarification on where the hundreds of thousands of euros had gone and who would be held accountable for the project delays, the lack of oversight of the work, and the hardship caused to residents.

According to her, Sarandë Municipality must not evade responsibility through excuses but should explain the missed deadlines, the quality of the work, and why residents were left without an essential service for several months despite the expenditure of public funds. Zhupa added that election promises had remained nothing more than routine propaganda, producing no tangible results for Sarandë residents.