Prime Minister Edi Rama has stated that arson should be treated as murder.
Rama has even compared arsonists to murderers and demanded that the punishments be even more severe than for illegal construction.
The head of government argued that an illegal construction can be demolished, but damage to forests takes years to recover.
"Penalties for arsonists should be much more severe than penalties for illegal construction. Or an illegal construction in a protected forest area, 5–10 years. You can demolish illegal construction, while forest regeneration takes years to do, and I am convinced that arsonists will be treated as murderers and illegal arson should be treated as murder."
And people's lives are put at risk, while along with the forest, the house also disappears. This is precisely premeditated murder. The new turn that we have taken on the long path of establishing legal order on the territory, for the liberation of public spaces, will not end without ending once and for all, not simply those buildings that are instruments of occupation, but the phenomenon itself.
"I know there are many people who hope that this will be like a midsummer night's nightmare, but it will not be like that, because there is no Albania 2030 in the EU with unauthorized construction that reaches the point of blocking communities of residents at the entrance and exit, " he said.
The Prime Minister also warned of severe measures for those who sell an apartment more than once.
He added that failure to report deformities will also be considered a criminal offense.
"It is important to block the chain. Builders operate in collaboration with architects who accept deformations and do not notify the relevant state authority as happens all over the world. This failure to notify will be considered a criminal offense. It will be considered participation in a criminal offense. Of course, the architect will lose everything. If an architect accepts the deformation of the project and does not have the pride or character to say stop or denounce you if you move not 3 thousand square meters, but 1 square meter from my project, this is on the one hand his misfortune. On the other hand, it is not a painting that you accept for someone to come and put their hands in because at the end of the day it remains a painting, but it is an asset that others have bought," said Rama.