Restoration of Xhamia e Çarshisë (Bazaar Mosque) in Prishtina shall not see its completion this year either

Within the “Online Transparency” project, EC Ma Ndryshe, during June and July, launched a research on conservation and restoration works on cultural heritage monuments in Prishtina. At the outset, the focus of this research is the Çarshia (Bazaar) Mosque.

The project of conservation and restoration of Çarshia (Bazaar) Mosque began in 2011, following the signing of an agreement between the Municipality of Prishtina, as the project sponsor, and the Institute for Protection of Cultural Monuments of Kosovo (IPCM), as the carrier of the restoration works. According to this agreement, for the realization of the first phase Prishtina Municipality has granted 80.000 Euros; for realization of the second phase 250.000 Euros; for the third phase, which included completion of the project, it granted 100.000 Euros; whereas on the fourth phase of works, the Municipality provided 132.000 Euros for the entire completion of the project which were not foreseen on the final phase. Accordingly, the total amount allocated by the Municipality so far is 562.000 Euros.

Since 2011 until 2013, some of the works were carried out, but with significant delays due to irregular payments by the Municipality, according to IPCM. Although the works were scheduled to end in 2013, those are not over yet. According to IPCM, for the entire completion of the project about 95.000 Euros are needed, since the municipality has not estimated the cost of the project, but only the cost of works. On these grounds, IPCM has made a request to the Municipality, but, Municipality of Prishtina, in its 2014 budget has not foreseen any allocation for Çarshia (Bazaar) Mosque, as it has deemed this project as finished. A case in point is that, if the restoration of the mosque isn’t finished this year either, IPCM says that the value of 95.000 Euros, an amount deemed as sufficient for completion of the project this year, the next year, due to damages the Mosque might undergo, that amount for project completion could increase.

Meanwhile, Municipality of Prishtina has requested from the internal auditor an audit report on all investments that are made to date on the Çarshi (Bazaar) Mosque. According to municipal officials, they are now in anticipation of the report, based on which they will map the next steps for the completion of this project.

Non-completion of restoration and leaving this edifice on the current state contributes to its further degradation. Therefore, EC Ma Ndryshe urges relevant institutions to react quickly to provide necessary funds for completion of the project.

Deficient coordination between institutions and lack of a proper dynamic work plan have produced the current situation in which Çarshia Mosque is put through and not just. Taking into account these, EC Ma Ndryshe recommends the following:

-    Collaboration and continuous communication between institutions and parties involved in the project during all phases;
-    Detailed planning of the dynamic plan and budget;
-    Regular supervision of works by professionals of the field.

The project of EC Ma Ndryshe for overseeing transparency of the Municipality of Prishtina shall continue with publicizing monitoring findings through regular press releases and the project’s website, where the findings will be posted directly by the monitors. All monitoring findings, including regular press releases and other information in relation to the local government of Prishtina will be regularly published on the project’s website: www.online-transparency.org.