GOVERNMENT: THE SOCIALIST DIRECTOR MUST BE INVESTIGATED
Ship owners accuse the director of the Port of Durrës
He took a bribe
Let us not waste time, the soot is making us dirty
By En BRACE
For 100 days of governing, Prime Minister Majko, together with the government and the majority, promised to set up anti-corruption mechanisms and put them to work. That was one of those beautiful things that stay in the public mind and with which you stood up to all sorts of accusations directed at the reform and the port, hoping that even more positive things would happen in the very near future. Unfortunately, not yet. Yesterday, a serious accusation was made public in the newspaper against one of the 130 institutions that would act on their behalf, of course not by name or institution by institution, but against the entire system that until yesterday had administered them. Better said, this accusation comes from a group of 7 owners of Durrës sea lines, also supported by signatures, and is addressed to the head of these institutions together with the deputy prime minister of the government, Ilir Meta. As quoted in the text, this accusation contains a completely solid fact and, despite the fact that it is not only a government problem but first and foremost a problem of an elected official who has taken the executive authority in Durrës into his hands. It concerns the former Socialist and now director of the Port of Durrës, Florian Muharremi. The 7 owners of the sea lines accuse him of bribery. In their text they state: “It is unforgivable, but we have all become part of a phenomenon, a continuing contribution to the port, from 40 to 60 thousand dollars for the file of the vessel, in order to obtain the necessary licenses for operation, unloading, maintenance and stay of the ship. All these payments have been made inevitably and under pressure from the Port administration, especially from its director.” According to them, these sums were paid in the form of currency as “coffee,” “help,” or “obligations,” but in fact they were bribes for the port leaders. The accusers call on the government and the justice authorities to investigate this case immediately. At the end of this text, they have also written their names.
If the government does not act seriously on this accusation, then the very promise to fight corruption goes down the drain. This is a first real test for the new administration and for the way it will behave toward corruption in important public institutions. Will everything continue as before, or will there be a real investigation and accountability?