Prishtinë, 10 July 2012
It appears that the decisions and laws which men choose to lead, guide and regulate their social lives do not apply for those who have chosen to spread the word of God.
The high school Medrese “Alauddin” in Prishtina, whose only mission is to officially educate new generations in carrying further Islamic studies, has just began to expand its existing building without an initial permission by the Municipality of Prishtina.
Over two weeks ago, Preportr inquired in the Prishtina Municipality as regards the permission for the construction taking place in “Alauddin”.
The response from the Urban Planning Department initially was that they had no knowledge about these extensions in “Alauddin”. But, as a consequence information by Preportr, the municipal inspection found out that “Alauddin” does not possess a permission, and the Municipality has taken action to topple these constructions. “The top construction began last week, without permission by the competent body of the municipality. After the completion of procedures by the construction inspector, the demolition of the floor took place”, said Muhamet Gashi, director of inspectorate in Prishtina Municipality.
No, we did not apply for permission in the Municipality Bahri Simnica, Director of Medrese Alauddin
Officials from “Alauddin” Medrese, but also from Kosovo Islamic Community as carriers of all tendering procedures did not agree to speak about these illegal constructions. They admit these constructions do not have permission, but they refused to answer any other question for Preportr. Bahri Simnica, director of “Alauddin” admits these extensions did not possess a permission by the municipality. “No, we did not apply for a permission by municipal bodies”, said Simnica.
No, we did not apply for permission in the Municipality
Bahri Simnica, Director of Medrese Alauddin
The Medrese director, along with Ahmet Sadiku, referent for publications in BIK do not wish to speak about the reasons behind this illegal decision, regardless of a decision by the municipality in Augst of 2010 to ban illegal construction.
On 19th August 2010, the Municipality of Prishtina had undertaken an initiative to photograph (satellite images) the factual state of construction buildings. According to the public announcement released by Prishtina Municipality, “each building or unit constructed after August 19th, 2010, and which does not appear in the satellite image of this day will not be able to undergo the legalization procedure”. Based on this announcement, each illegal construction after this date will be treated in compliance with the Law provisions for Construction No. 2004/37 and other sub-legal acts resulting from this Law, and those constructions will be demolished.
The Feminine eclipses the Masculine
The building, which spreads the word of God resembles a rainbow after heavy rain, displaying an array of colors and facades which testify to the different construction periods this building underwent. An annex of the building constructed this summer, which now will be used for education of the female sex can be observed that it has completely blocked the sunrays for the part of the building where the male sex is educated. Both of this parts are no further from each other than a meter and a half.
The completion of this over-the-top construction, dedicated entirely to the female sex is seen by BIK officials and “Alauddin” Medrese as sermon from the Qur’an which should not be violated, and therefore they have no intention of suspending the construction.
According to BIK and “Alauddin” Medrese officials, the project financed by an organization from Arab Emirates will be completed after obtaining permission by the Municipality of Prishtina. “The completion of construction will be carried out after fulfilling the procedures in the municipality”, say these officials.
But, Muhamet Gashi from Prishtina Municipality tells us that when dealing with this kind of case, very strict conditions of legalization are implemented. “Only in very specific cases, and with evidence that the construction is necessary, such as rain leaks,…then the building can be legalized, but this does not apply in other cases”.
