Kacanik Flouted Law in Troubled Land Deal
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Opinion: After Attacks, an Opportunity for LGBT Rights in Kosovo Dec 21, 2012 - Jan 10, 2013 Issue No. 102 www.prishtinainsight.com Price € 1 NEWS Anti-Gay Govt Envisages Attacks Reveal Wiretap Centre Kosovo’s > page 3 NEWS Hidden Furies Kosovo’s Extremist attacks in Detention-happy Prishtina on magazine Judges Rapped launch and LGBT organi- sation shock margin- > page 4 alised community but fail NEWS to dent their resolve. Kosovo Urged to Meanwhile, Kosovo is forced to deal with the Reopen Post-war little-discussed issue of Murder Case its gay community. > page 6 NEIGHBOURHOOD See Page 5 Serbian Mountain Offers 'Refuge' for Mayan Doomsday Kacanik Flouted Law in > page 13 CULTURE Troubled Land Deal For the love of music Municipality gave land worth 1.8 million euro to company without due authorization or clear title to the plot, Prishtina Insight investigation shows. an unrelated case for extortion and [Kosovo Liberation Army] veter- Under a 2000 law on the By Tinka Kurti illegal possession of weapons. ans, war invalids, veterans and the Regulation of Local Government, Zharku had declined to com- municipality of Kacanik will ben- municipalities must seek central he municipality of Kacanik ment about the land deal before he efit from it,” Bunjaku wrote. government permission for granti- skirted Kosovo property became a fugitive. Less than a month-and-a-half ng land use for more than 10 years. Tlaws when it gave away land > page 14 worth 1.8 million euro so that a According to documents later, on October 23, Mayor Zharku Kacanik had not sought permis- local company could develop a released by the municipality, the signed away cadastral site number sion from the Ministry of Local housing and business complex, land deal began with a letter dated 650 to Clirimtaret for use as “col- Government, as required. After Prishtina Insight can reveal. September 12, 2008. lective housing and business facil- learning of the transaction, the The then mayor, Xhabir Zharku, Elham Bunjaku , a representa- ities”. ministry on April 24, 2009 wrote to signed off on the deal in 2008. As of tive from a local company, But the deal did not go through Mayor Zharku to inform him that Kosovo’s only English-language Thursday, Zharku was a fugitive Clirimtaret, wrote to the town public procurement procedures. the transaction broke the law, newspaper is available: nearly a week after failing to report planning department requesting The municipality also had no right telling him to review the decision. to the Kacanik court to begin serv- the use of 31 acres of land. to give away the property for use Delivered to ing a three-year prison sentence in “The families of the KLA for more than 10 years. continues page 2 Your Door Kosovo MP Withdraws From Italian Energy Deal Holds From Newsstands Parliament Tender Hidden Risks for Serbia across Kosovo An opposition MP, Agim Kuleta, has A key energy agreement between Serbia Sent To requested the annulment of an Assembly and Italy, paving the way for investment in Your Inbox tender awarded to his own company after new hydroelectric power plants in Serbia, Prishtina Insight asked him about the is awaiting adoption in the Belgrade parlia- apparent conflict of interest. ment. From “After consulting the Anti-Corruption The agreement envisages construction our partners Agency on whether... of ten hydropower... business page 7 news page 12-13 see page 16 for more info is supported by: 2 Dec 21, 2012 - Jan 10, 2013 news Kacanik Flouted Law in Troubled Land Deal from page 1 ment, Agron Maxhuni, told However, it remains unclear The then Minister of Local deal stated that the municipality Prishtina Insight that the 2000 law whether the municipality owned Government, Sadri Ferati, raised would still get 20 per cent of the The head of urbanization in clearly applied to Kacanik’s land the land in the first place. the issue with Zharku in April 2009 apartments, while Clirimtaret Kacanik, Bekim Troni, told deal. The land formerly belonged to in a letter. would retain nine businesses. Prishtina Insight that the deal did the state-owned Ramadan Agushi “Under the law on the KPA No. “It hadn’t turned out as we’d not break the law. “At the time, no Ownership disputed: agricultural cooperative. It was 03/I-67, the agency is the only thought it would. Much more law was in place on giving away listed as a socially owned enter- authority authorized to adminis- investment was necessary than we municipal property for use, so we Based on Zharku’s decision, 20 prise on the register of the Kosovo ter and manage social property,” had foreseen, so it was better to were able to take such a decision,” per cent of the apartments were to Privatization Agency’s properties he noted. withdraw,” Clirimtaret represen- he said. belong to the municipality on com- until 2005, the agency spokesper- “The foreseen location for the tative Elham Bunjaku told But the head of the Ministry of pletion of the housing and busi- son Ylli Kaloshi told Prishtina construction of the facility is Prishtina Insight. Local Government’s legal depart- ness complex. Insight. social property, namely property When the project started, Nuri “As is known, the KPA has a of the Agricultural Cooperative Rexha from Kacanik decided to mandate by law to administer Ramadan Agushi,” Ferati added. buy one of the businesses at the social enterprises and their prop- Ferati asked the mayor to site from Clirimtareve and its erties and assets,” he said. review the decision to grant the partner, Vellezerve te Bashkuar, In subsequent lists, the land land. The municipality did so in which also withdrew later from mysteriously lost its designation 2009, but stuck with it. the project. as a socially owned enterprise. “Everything related to the case Rexha says he made a down pay- Prishtina Insight asked Kacanik was fine,” Troni, the municipali- ment of 20,000 euro but lost his municipality to release its current ty's head of urbanization, told money and his rights to the busi- ownership certificate, but the Prishtina Insight. ness after the change in contracts. municipality has not done so. Rexha sued Clirimtareve and An ownership certificate from Change of owners: Vellezerve te Bashkuar in the December 2009 obtained by municipal court of Kacanik and Prishtina Insight lists it as “social Clirimtaret’s contract with the has been awarded 40,000 euro. The property.” municipality obliged it to com- two companies appealed to the The KPA is looking into how the plete the housing and business Supreme Court, which has yet to municipality assumed ownership project within two years. hear the case. of the land. Doing so without But less than a year after the “I thought that since we were informing the agency “would con- 2008 deal, Clirimtaret signed a con- from Kacanik and all knew each stitute a legal violation,” Kaloshi tract with another company, other, I could trust them,” Rexha Xhabir Zharku, the former mayor of Kacanik. said. Bardhi, to take on the project. The said. PDK Chief Denies Lobbying Thaci Over ‘Uncle’ PDK caucus chief says his chat with Thaci played no role in health ministry official getting his job back. were fabricated. treatment at the International The November 2011 conversa- Medicine Hospital while on sick tion came six months after Dr leave. By Parim Olluri and Gjocaj was fired as head of the The committee ruled in Jeton Musliu Department of Health Services at Gjocaj’s favour on August 15, the Ministry of Health in May 2011. 2011. He regained his job in May On October 27, 2011, the then hen Adem Grabovci was this year. secretary of the ministry, Ilir recorded chatting with Grabovci told Prishtina Insight Tolaj, issued a decision imple- WPrime Minister Hashim that he doesn’t consider Gjocaj to menting the oversight commit- Thaci over the phone in November be his uncle; he is merely his tee’s decision, placing Gjocaj in a 2011, the chief of the caucus of the wife’s uncle. different position as head of the ruling Democratic Party of He also would not say if he had Center of Professional Services Kosovo, PDK, reminded Thaci that helped Gjocaj with his employ- for Mental Health in Ferizaj. he’d “neglected an uncle.” ment situation but maintained But Gjocaj did not agree to “Mazreku?” Thaci asked. “No, that his conversation with Thaci change jobs. The ministry con- Curr Gjocaj,” Grabovci answered, was not connected to it. tested the civil service commit- mentioning the name of his wife’s “Curr got his job back thanks to tee’s decision and filed a com- uncle. According to Thaci, that a decision of the Independent plaint at the Supreme Court. In was the first he’d heard of the Oversight Committee. It had noth- November 2011, the court ruled issue. ing to do with the fact that I men- that the civil service committee The conversation between the tioned his name to the Prime had not considered some facts in two was vague and didn’t go into Minister, ” Grabovci said. the case and stated that it would details about Gjocaj, who was review their decision. then fighting to get his job back at The committee revisited the Ministry of Health. Sick leave row: Gjocaj’s case again and on May 4, The EU mission in Kosovo, Gjocaj was fired as head of the 2012, again ruled that he should EULEX, recorded the conversa- Department of Health Services get his original job back. tion as part of its corruption after a disciplinary committee Curr Gjocaj, the director of health services in the Ministry of Health.