We are here together with the Mayor of the Municipality of Peja, Gazmend Muhaxheri, and the Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Environment, Infrastructure, and Spatial Planning, Jeton Raka, to lay the foundation stone marking the beginning of the construction of 135 apartments in two buildings in the Municipality of Peja, intended for affordable and social housing.
It is a success story of cooperation between the Government and the Municipality, as well as with the International Finance Corporation and the Housing Studies Institute. Knowledge, finance, central and local governance have joined forces to help young couples secure dignified housing, where at least one of them must be under the age of 37, and also to support single parents.
The total cost for these two buildings with 135 apartments—103 of which are for affordable housing and 32 for social housing—is €10,083,000. The total construction area will be 22,362.00 m².
Peja is among the municipalities that applied and were selected. We regret that many municipalities did not apply at all. Only 13 out of 38 municipalities applied, and we want to help as many families as possible who are in need of housing. The Acting Government works and cooperates with municipalities that apply, and this way, we support all citizens for the common good.
It is worth noting that we have done the same in Gjilan, Podujeva, and Istog, where all four types of apartments are being offered. We have apartments of 53 m², 66 m², 77 m², and 87 m². The 87 m² apartments are intended for social housing, while the 53 m² ones are for affordable housing. The other two sizes are mixed types. The majority of the apartments are of type B and C, specifically 55% are 77 m², and 30% are 66 m² apartments. The remaining 7.5% are of the two other types: 53 m² and 87 m².
We hope that construction by the contractors will be completed as quickly as possible, and that we will return again, together, to hand over the keys to the new residents, whether they are young couples—once again, at least one of whom must be under 37—or single parents who have not yet secured housing.
We believe that knowledge, financing, and local and central governance together form the winning combination for solving this essential issue of housing, because dignified housing is a fundamental human right for a good life.
I thank the Mayor of the Municipality of Peja. The Municipality of Peja will take care of the accompanying infrastructure and the location, while the Government will be responsible for the capital investment, namely the design, supervision, and construction.
