One of the basic information that a journalist requires from the public institutions is the distribution of taxes gathered by them in the provision of public services. My search as a journalist, but also as a citizen who is interested in this information, started from the official websites of 61 municipalities. With different formats and colors, dominated by pictures of the mayors and their official meetings, the websites of the municipalities have little information and above all not at all useful for the issue I am interested in.
Then I asked for information about something simpler, almost basic: how many 9-year schools does the municipality have? Even for this question, I did not get an answer from the information on the official websites of the municipalities. How many kilometers of road, how many drains? How many employees does the municipality have? You can't find information on these issues either. Although the municipalities have built official web pages, they are far from sources where citizens or local businesses can be informed or verify how transparent the local government is, which pays taxes.
"At first glance, it seems as if the legal requirements are fulfilled to some extent. However, today there are still municipalities that do not have an official website. In terms of content, the information uploaded on official sites is few and far between. The exceptions here are municipalities such as Shkodra, Korça and the municipality of Tirana to some extent", says Merita Toska, local government expert.
As for the local affairs expert, Agron Haxhimali, the information that is published on the official websites of the municipalities is standard and not very useful for the citizens. "Municipalities have made progress, especially in the publication of online information, mainly standard information, such as the operation of the municipality, the municipal council, structure, annual budget or approved local plans, etc. These types of information serve the citizen mainly in a passive way, he receives information without having any reaction to them that would bring interaction with the municipality", says Haxhimali.
The content of the official online websites of the municipalities
The official websites of the 61 municipalities in the country are similar in structure, although different in shape and color. Some sections are the same for all websites, such as the municipality, the municipal council, the services, the photo of the mayor and the visible reflection of his official meetings or other leaders of the local government. Experts estimate that the lack of abundant and detailed information is only one of the shortcomings. Another problem is not updating data and information. In many sections of the websites of the municipalities, the information dates back to the period when the site was opened, while many other sections, if you click inside, are empty. So they have no information.
"In addition to the limited amount of information, it is not updated, and in cases where it is updated, it happens very late. For the average citizen, it is extremely difficult to get informed based on what has been published", declares Merita Toska. While for Agron Haxhimali, the fact that there is a lack of utilitarian information that serves the citizens, who can be informed about the services they benefit from and how to benefit from them, is worrying.
"I would emphasize two key aspects of communication and provision of services to the citizen: first, the municipalities should work more to inform the citizens about their services, especially those for the needy groups such as rent bonus, child support in emergency situations, first aid for abused women, assistance to the elderly or persons with different abilities. There are many citizens who are not aware of the municipal services offered, and even if they are, they do not know the procedures that must be followed to benefit from these services or to which office they should go. Secondly, citizens' online access to the municipality and its employees is quite weak. If citizens try to get information by phone or e-mail, it would be difficult in at least half of the municipalities", argues Agron Haxhimali.
Another problem found on the official websites of the municipalities is the incomprehensible information. "There is information on a part of the websites of the municipalities that cannot be read", says Toska. Bringing the example of taxes, she explains that "some municipalities only publish the changes of the fiscal package on the website and you have to track the fiscal package of year X to understand what happened", says the expert.
Faced with these problems of the official websites of the municipalities, just to be informed is not enough. You can learn about the president or who he has met, see him with photos, but you can't get information on the taxes he pays or where they are spent. The lack of transparency, and therefore accountability, is evident from the local elected officials, who seem not to be concerned about the official website, which is the first contact of an investor with the municipality or even a citizen to seek answers.
This article was produced under ICEDA project, co-financed by the European Union and implemented by Metamorphosis Foundation (North Macedonia), e-Governance Academy (Estonia), Partners Serbia (Serbia), NGO 35mm (Montenegro), Open Data Kosovo (Kosovo) and MJAFT! Movement (Albania).
This article was produced with the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of MJAFT! Movement and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.