Project Title:

Technical monitoring and dispute resolution services for the first registration of immovable property, Korça and Maliq, Albania

Project Number:

2003-75688

Project Start Date:

16th February 2004

Project Completion Date:

estimated April 2006

Report Title:

Fifth Mission Report

Report Date:

26th July 2005

Report Author(s):

Paul Eaton

Consultant:

Landell Mills Ltd.,

Bryer-Ash Business Park, Bradford Road, Trowbridge, Wiltshire BA14 8HE, United Kingdom

Tel: +44 (0) 1225 785 849

Email: zifa.sadriyeva@landell-mills.com



In Association with:



SEDA

Ruga “Vaso Pasha” Pall 13/1, Kat. 6, Ap. 3, Tirana, Albania

Tel: +355 4 238613

Email: seda@albnet.net

Project Coordinator(s)

Zifa Sadrieva, Landell Mills Ltd.,

Genc Myftiu, SEDA

Team Leader and Technical Monitoring Expert:

Paul Eaton

Dispute Resolution Expert:

Sokol Luçi

Contact Person

Giovanni Serritella

Delegation of the European Commission in Albania,

Tel. + 355 4 265260/59 / 265254/51



Abbreviations Used:



ADR

Alternative Dispute Resolution

ARD

Associates in Rural Development Inc.

CZ

Cadastral Zone

EC

European Commission

GoA

Government of Albania

IPRO

Immovable Property Registration Office

IPRS

Immovable Property Registration System

PMU/IPRS

Project Management Unit of IPRS

USAID

United States Agency for International Development


  1. LEAFLETS for Public Information Campaign; ENGLISH- ALBANIAN


  1. Introduction


The project started on the 16th February 2004 with the arrival in Albania of the Consultant Team Leader and Technical Monitoring Expert, Sean Johnson. The Dispute Resolution Expert is resident in Albania. The First Mission lasted for 15 days. An Inception Report was produced, dated 9 March, 2004. Due to difficulties in obtaining official approval from IPRS for the commencement of the project the start-up was delayed.


Five months passed since the inception report. The former Team Leader, Sean Johnson, was no longer available and was replaced by Paul Eaton. A Second Mission took place from 4th August to 15th August, 2004. More difficulties were encountered but steps taken by the EC and the Central IPRO during the mission led to a start-up date for two of the planned four cadastral zones. A Second Mission Report, dated 23 August, 2004, was produced.


The District Registrar of Korça gave approval to commence the systematic registration of Maliq (CZ 2573) and Korça (CZ 8563) on 1st October, 2004. Approval was not given for CZ 8561 or CZ 8564, which formed part of the original proposal and the contract for Technical Monitoring/Alternative Dispute Resolution by Landell Mills/SEDA and for implementation by Land & Co.


A Third Mission took place from 23 October to 7 December 2004. During this mission an understanding was reached with the contractor concerning work standards. Quality control procedures were established and detailed monitoring took place. A Third Mission Report, dated 13 December, 2004, was produced.


The District Registrar of Korça gave approval to commence the systematic registration of Korça (CZ 8561) on 15 March, 2005 and the contractor began work almost immediately.


A Fourth Mission took place from 18 April to 7 May, 2005. The report dealt mainly with ongoing monitoring of the project, nearing the middle of the implementation stage. A Fourth Mission Report, dated 13 May, 2005, was produced.


A Fifth Mission took place from 10 July to 25 July, 2005. It was timed to follow the completion of the national elections and to precede the month of August, when many people are on vacation. The main activity was ongoing monitoring of the project.


  1. Recent Developments


  • The Head of Operations, Section I, Mr. Gavin Evans, visited the project in Korça on 23rd and 24th of June, 2005. An inspection visit was carried out on IPRS offices in Korça and a meeting was held with Korça District Chief Registrar, Mr. Robert Shore. Present also were Mr. Genc Myftiu and Mr. Mevlan Lame from SEDA. Topics discussed were

  1. added value of LML-SEDA projects to Korça IPRS and to the property registration in general

  2. future steps to be carried out toward finalisation of the first immovable property registration in other cadastral zones of Korça

  3. automation of the system based on the lessons learned from the functioning system of Pogradeç and new approach of LML SEDA toward sustainable automation of the immovable property registration

  4. training needs of Korça IPRS staff to cope with the future challenges

  5. possibility to install in Korça a training centre for training staff of other IPRS offices of Albania.

Korça Chief Registrar Mr. Shore handed over to Mr. Evans a Letter of Gratitude for Mr. Saltzman, head of EU Delegation in Albania, for the support the EC is providing to the Korça IPRS.

Mr. Evans paid a visit to the Mayor of Korça to discuss the Systematic First Registration in Korça and new challenges of improving local governance, such as implementation of an Address System, based on the success story of Korça Systematic First Registration.

Discussions were held also between Mr. Evans and Mr. Myftiu on the issues of management of the future EC-funded IPR projects related to

  1. Systematic First Registration in other regions of the country, with the goal of covering the whole territory of Albania

  2. automation of the IPRS at local/regional level and at national level based on lessons learned and success stories of previous ARD works and current LML-SEDA works. Discussions were focused also on the issues of approach, methodology and management

  • Public Display in Korça (CZ 8563) ended on 15th July, 2005. The contractor began work on corrections to Kartelas based on Public Display information, as well as for transactions that took place during the Public Display. The contractor intends to complete his work in this CZ by early August, and indications are that he will do so.

  • Public Display in Maliq (CZ 2573) commenced on 20th June 2005 and will continue for 3 months in conformance with the law. Announcements were made in the media.

  • Hipoteka Documents for Korça (CZ 8561) were digitally copied. The field survey is nearly complete.



  1. Public Information Campaign


A public information campaign for Korça (CZ 8561) was organised and posters and leaflets were produced in the same way as for the previous two zones.


The Public Display for Korça (CZ 8561) was announced on television following the same procedures as per other two first zones.


  1. Organisation of Subcontracted Works


There is no change from previous reports. A “Request for Services” agreement is soon to be signed between EC and Landell-Mills, effectively increasing the inputs for the Technical Monitoring Expert, the ADR Expert, the Local Monitoring Experts and the Field Mediators. These increases are not shown.


  1. Technical Monitoring of Field Survey


Technical monitoring follows "Work Controlling Procedures and Acceptance Tolerances" of PMU of IPRS. Specifically Section 1 C Urban Zones at Scale 1:500


Our comments remain unchanged from those in the Third Mission Report.


In conclusion, the field survey and Registration Index Map preparation is satisfactory.


  1. Preparation of Immovable Property Kartelas


There is no change from previous reports.


  1. Technical Monitoring of Preparation of Immovable Property Kartelas


The contractor has given a copy of the digital images of Hipoteka documents for Korça (CZ 8561) and Maliq (CZ 2573) to our Technical Monitors. Digital documents for Korça (CZ 8561) are soon to follow. This has eased our workload and means that our Technical Monitors can perform more of their work in the Landell-Mills / SEDA office in Korça, rather than in the IPRS office, which is noisy, crowded and full of distractions.


In general the ongoing work of Land & Co remains very satisfactory.


  1. Technical Monitoring by Korça IPRO

The Korça IPRO is monitoring the work of the contractor. Following the work plan outlined in the First and Second Mission Report, the Technical Monitoring Team is working with the IPRO monitoring team and the contractor in a three-way quality assurance process.


During the Fifth Mission, a checking and control team arrived from Central IPRO in Tirana. They began work with IPRO staff and not directly with Landell-Mills / SEDA. Nor did they work with the contractor Land & Co.


  1. Updating the Work in the Future


The issue of updating the Systematic Registration Index Maps and Digital Kartela as transactions take place is a source of concern. Some meetings were held during the Fourth Mission and this was reported at the time.

  1. IPRO Central Office, Tirana

The World Bank is supporting the rehabilitation and improvement of the IPRS Central Office and the Tirana District Office. This includes procurement of hardware, software and training. In our last visit we were invited to return to view the progress, but there is still little to see as the procurement process is still not complete. Technical discussions were held with IT staff of IPRS Central Office and the Tirana District Office related to the practical usage of automation and the step-by-step approach of the proposed IPR automation strategy.

  1. Work Programme and Staffing


The work plan for technical monitoring and dispute resolution has been combined with the contractor's and the IPRS tasks into a Gantt chart. This chart appears in Figure 1. It is used to control the scheduling of the Technical Monitoring Expert, the ADR Expert, the Local Monitoring Experts and the Field Mediators. It has been issued to the contractor in order to help him to plan his work and to stay on schedule.


The chart reflects the work and progress in the two zones that started on 1 October 2004 and the third zone that started on 15 March 2005.


Appendix C provides the key staff utilisation report to date.

  1. Technical Monitoring


The Local Technical Monitoring has been staffed in accordance with the Inception Report.

  1. Mediation and Dispute Resolution


The Alternative Dispute Resolution Expert, together with the Contractor, is carrying out public information and dispute resolution services in the Cadastral zones, working in compliance with the “Instruction Manual for Mediation and Monitoring for First Registration”. Details of the several forms of these legal and mediation activities are presented in previous reports




 

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