Author: Dallandyshe XHAFERRI
"I was traveling on the 'Durrës-Tirana' highway towards the capital when a police car stopped me with its sirens on. I didn't understand what was happening. They asked for my license, my driver's license and started the procedures they follow in cases of a stop," - this is what Marjus Merhori writes, among other things, on the "Sinjalizo" platform. The young man from Kavaja, who had a police 'surprise' two months ago, is not worried about the stop, but about what came next. He was informed by the police that he had not paid a fine that he knew nothing about, he had not been informed anywhere, not even in the "E-fine" system.
"They told me that based on the application of my license plate in the system, it turned out that I had received a fine a year ago and I was not aware of it. They told me that the car would be seized, but I rejected such a decision, demanding an explanation of where and when I had received this fine," the 25-year-old continues his story, adding that he was told that "the fine was received by the intelligent machine and resulted from a year ago, without telling me specifically what had happened."
Still unclear and uninformed about the administrative measure, Marjusi tells "Sinjalizo" that in order to prevent the unjust seizure of the car, he turned to the Tirana Police. There he was informed that the fine had been imposed in the city of Kavaja, but again no one gave him an answer as to why he was fined.
"I still don't know where I got this fine, as I strictly follow traffic rules because I see it as a civic conscience to protect myself, others and to avoid a road accident," the citizen reiterates, while noting that, a day after the incident, "the police said the fine had been removed from the system."
"I have often checked the fine system and I have not received any fines," he says, adding, "From the communication I had with the police officers, they told me that the fine could have been imposed as a result of Iranian cyber attacks and could have been imposed incorrectly," the whistleblower says, adding that the lack of documentation of the fine poses a problem for drivers.
Digitization of millionaires, but only in theory
But, although the citizen was given the explanation for the undeserved fine as the system attack by Iranian hackers, through the response to the request for information, the National Agency for the Information Society (AKSHI) indicates that "The approved limit fund for E-fines is 357,428,000 lek excluding VAT, where the fund for the value of the Implementation is 262,228,000 lek excluding VAT and the fund for the value of the maintenance is 95,200,000 lek excluding VAT", - AKSHI announces in response.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance and Economy explains to "Sinjalizo" that in the approved fund for the digitalization project of the fine system , "Improvement of the fine system, integration with radar support equipment, and supplementation with tablets for the State Police", in 2022 130 million lek was planned and 128.8 million lek was realized "and 90 million lek is planned for 2023," - it is written in the response of the Ministry of Finance.
The problem is not only E-fines
But, E-fine is not the only case where the digitalization of the system has not been successful. In May, "Sinjalizo" published an article in which teachers denounced the malfunctioning of the online register of SMIP students. This system has continued to show ongoing problems in deleting grades or changing them for various subjects.
Gjergji M, a parent of one of the students of the “Naim Frashëri” high school in Durrës, tells “Sinjalizo” that not all of his daughter’s grades were reflected at the end of the third semester in the online register. “I constantly communicated to my daughter’s teacher that after the end of the third semester, the grades were not appearing in the register. She told me that she was throwing them away, while when I logged in once I saw them, the next time the grade list was empty”, he concludes. Despite the problems that have accompanied this system during this school year, AKSHI, in its response to “Sinjalizo”, states that from the state budget “the limit fund approved for the maintenance of SMIP is 53,467,200 lek excluding VAT”.
Online voting
Meanwhile, the Central Election Commission, in response to the question of “Sinjalizo” about how much the approved fund was for the purchase of online voting equipment in the local elections of May 14, responded that the total value was up to 929,187,443 lekë. Also, this institution adds: “We do not have an approved fund for the maintenance of these equipment”. During the local elections of May 14, electronic equipment showed numerous problems in the voting process, not recognizing the means of voter identification.
Economy expert: Cheap goods are bought expensively
Pano Soko, an economic expert, tells "Sinjalizo" that every investment made in the function of digitization is positive, but the issue is "lame" in their quality.
"The division into two parts must be made, macrostructure and microstructure. In the macrostructure, the question is: are these expenses needed, are they necessary? And the answer is yes. Naturally, everything related to digitalization is progress and we demand that all processes that are carried out in analog form today be digitalized, because this is the reality in which we find ourselves and very soon we will have to embrace a new reality, which will be even more digital than this. So every investment made in the field of digitalization is necessary", - says Soko, adding that " the public money that is spent must maintain the quality of the investment. As much money as is needed for the investment should be spent. This is probably the problem we have", - says the economic expert, adding that "the investments are not qualitative because the money has flowed somewhere".
This article was created based on input provided by individuals who have chosen to speak up. Share your story, empower others and be an agent for change. Visit the website: www.acqj.al/sinjalizo-dhe-ti/
