Legalization

As some people may know, I live and work in an "informal" area called Keneta. The term "informal", however, can be rather misleading. Keneta is not a place where people only wear sweat pants and greet each other with grunts. It's not that kind of "informal". Instead, it's "informal" in the sense that no one here owns an actual title for their land or buildings.

Long story short, the demise of communism here in 1991 sparked high levels of internal migration. For the previous 40+ years, Albanians had been told where they could and could not live, so with the new freedom of movement came many new residents in and around the nation's larger cities. Over the past 15 years, Keneta has been transformed from abandoned swamp land into a residential area home to approximately 75,000 people. None of whom own the land on which they have built.

Absence of land ownership is a problem plaguing the entire country. Millions of dollars have been invested in homes and businesses, but as long as they remain informal, owners are not able to realize the full potential of their investments. Primarily because they are not able to use their properties as collateral for loans and other investments.



The Albanian Government is hoping to solve this problem with a nationwide land-legalization effort that began on July 15th. All informal land owners have been given amnesty and the opportunity to register their land and receive formal titles.

I really hope that the process proceeds smoothly and efficiently. This could be a big step forward for society and the economy here. However, much of the work burden involved in the process has been put on the shoulders of the local governments, and few seem to be fully prepared to meet the responsibilities and level of work that will be required to meet the deadlines set by the new law.