-
By:
Shaban Maxharraj
- 20 May 2025 23:48
- Share to:
On Tuesday, the Cultural Heritage Inspectorate issued a fourth red notice to stop work at four construction sites in the center of Pristina. The Inspectorate had to coordinate with the Police to stop work at “Qamil Hoxha”. A day earlier, work was also stopped at “Agim Ramadani” when archaeological structures were discovered during the drilling of a cable channel.
The decisions of the Cultural Heritage Inspectorate are not binding on officials of the Municipality of Pristina. The capital's management already counts several cases in which it disregards the measures imposed by this inspectorate.
Scenes where Kosovo Police must accompany inspectors to stop unauthorized works in protected areas have now become routine, as have reports to the capital's management.
"Qamil Hoxha" Street on Tuesday has been transformed into a new space where police officers accompany inspectors in stopping the works. It took almost a week for the Municipality to be forced to stop working without being provided with written permission from the Kosovo Institute for the Protection of Monuments.
On Wednesday of last week, the Cultural Heritage inspectors imposed a ban on construction work on the road connecting the city's central boulevard with "Agim Ramadani" street. The area has the status of a protected area of the Historical Center of Pristina and the monument "Residential House - Ismail Sahatçiu" is also located there. But the Municipality has not even considered the imposition of the ban. It has started and continued the works without the permit specified in the Law on Cultural Heritage. The Inspectorate has several times requested assistance from the Basic Prosecution Office in Pristina and the Kosovo Police.
On Tuesday, the heavy equipment was turned off and the workers stopped work. A stop work sign was posted there.
"Today we have again coordinated with the Prosecutor's Office and the Police in order to stop unauthorized works on 'Qamil Hoxha' Street," the Cultural Heritage Inspectorate announced.
But according to Sokol Havoll, director of the Directorate of Capital Investments and Contract Management in the Municipality of Pristina, the halt to the works was done by political order.
"Today, the inspectors of the Ministry of Culture, with political orders, without any legal basis, blocked another workshop in the capital, on 'Qamil Hoxha' street. The inspector experienced extraordinary satisfaction in fulfilling his boss's wish, surrounded by police protection," he wrote on social media, publishing a video when inspector Xheladin Krasniqi, accompanied by the Kosovo Police, places a sign prohibiting the works. Havolli wrote that he carefully and in the presence of police officers asked the inspector to present him with some documents.
"The Minister's decision on assets under protection (there is no decision at all, check the Ministry's website yourself). I also asked for an answer as to why the assets, as required by law, are not registered in the adequate systems with which the Municipalities and central institutions operate?", he wrote. Havolli has refused for the third time in a row to answer TIME regarding the ban on works on this road. The editorial team has tried to communicate with two spokespersons of the Police in the Pristina Region, but they have not been accessible.
The Historic Center of Pristina as well as the "Residential House - Ismail Sahatçiu" are part of the List of cultural heritage under temporary protection.
The Law on Cultural Heritage obliges each party to obtain a permit for interventions in such areas.
“The application for a permit for the construction of buildings or other creations within the protected area of an architectural monument or within an architectural conservation area, or affecting the environment of an assembly, is submitted for consideration to the competent institution. The competent institution has a veto on the granting of such a permit. If the competent institution does not respond within 15 days regarding the application for the construction of buildings or other developments, the permit may be determined by the relevant planning and construction authority,” states Article 9.
Works on "Qamil Hoxha" street in the capital started last week. The contract for the implementation of the works, which also includes "Rexhep Luci" street, weighs over 1.3 million euros.
"The asphalt has been eroded and the replacement of water pipes is planned, as well as the removal of existing terraces of the premises. No request for consent has been submitted to the cultural heritage institutions for these works," the minutes of the Cultural Heritage Inspectorate state.
The Municipality of Pristina is uncompetitive as an institution with attacks to work without permits in protected areas.
Three attempts by the Municipality of Pristina to carry out unauthorized works on “George Bush” Square, which according to the Ministry of Culture is an area under the protection of the Historical Center of Pristina, have now become sufficient material for the Kosovo Police to investigate this case. Officials of the Inspectorate and the Regional Center for Cultural Heritage have been interviewed about this case. As KOHA has learned, this is about the report that the Inspectorate has made to the Municipality after stopping the works for the second time, in April. The Municipality has stopped the works on this project three times. The works were stopped on March 12. Then on April 15. And for the third time on April 29. The last time with the intervention of the Kosovo Police, as the Inspectorate of Cultural Heritage was obstructed by the Mayor of the Municipality, Përparim Rama, and part of his cabinet. For this project, the Municipality has signed a contract worth 18.4 million euros. After the first halt to the works, the Municipality requested permission, but the Kosovo Institute for the Protection of Monuments issued recommendations requesting completion of the file. It was also found that it violates monuments. The Municipality then requested additional clarifications from the IKMM. Last fall, the Municipality also stopped work on the “Arbëri Urban Island – Youth Palace” project, with the justification that part of the project enters the protected area of the QHP and also affects the Youth and Sports Palace, which is a monument. The Municipality requested permission, but was refused. The contract for the implementation of this project weighs 6.5 million euros. Now the works continue across the railway.
On Monday of this week, with the permission of the Municipality, works were carried out by the Electricity Distribution Company (KEDS) on “Agim Ramadani” street, near the “Çarshi Mosque”, a monument under permanent protection. The drilling under the road route resulted in the exposure of archaeological architectural structures. The works carried out to extend an electricity cable were carried out without the necessary permits from cultural heritage institutions. While work was also carried out on Sunday, on Monday this intervention was prohibited by the Cultural Heritage Inspectorate. This is a space that enjoys double protection as it also enters the Historic Center of Pristina. The Archaeological Institute of Kosovo has not provided any clarifications as to what structures are in question.
