After the news that Veliaj will ask the government to impose a tax on every non-resident of Tirana who enters the metropolis to receive certain services, comes a reaction from the Municipality of Tirana.
The Media Adviser in the Municipality of Tirana, Renato Kalemai, has considered this a fake news, since according to him, yesterday's statement of Veliaj in the Parliamentary Committee of Laws was misunderstood.
According to Kalemi, Veliaj has requested different treatment from the government in the grants it receives, so that they are not counted as residents but as daily users of the city.
"At yesterday's hearing in the Parliamentary Committee on Laws for the 2020 draft budget, invited also as the chairman of the Association for Local Autonomy, the mayor Erion Veliaj put forward the idea of a special law for Tirana, as the capitals of others in Europe (Rome or Pristina for example), that Tirana is treated differently from the grants that the government gives for municipalities. Therefore, the government's aid for Tirana should not be calculated based on the residents, but on the daily users of the city, since in Tirana the whole of Albania receives services, and not only the residents of Tirana.
But, this statement was intentionally misunderstood by some media.
Therefore, the Municipality of Tirana takes the opportunity to clarify its citizens and the public opinion, that all the news about the imposition of a tax for the citizens who come to Tirana are FALSE and a FAKE made up by the owner of the punitive and misinforming media!
Two things are certain: No tax will be paid in Tirana by non-residents and no "fine" will be paid by the Mayor for the media that generated the next hysteria!" - says Kalemi.
Yesterday, the mayor Erion Veliaj in front of the parliamentary commission of laws asked for a special law for Tirana, admitting that it is not able to cope with the pace of population growth and the traffic that is increasing every day. This was understood as a fee for all those people who use the Capital to receive the services it offers.
"A law for Tirana will come as a proposal, because the consumption in Tirana is more than in any other city, everyone comes to Tirana, to the hospital, to the Court, so when the roads are budgeted, they are budgeted for residents, but they should be budgeted for users. We have received some very good models and we need to address these things"- are the words that Veliaj used.
