Wrote: Etrit Rexhepi
The new park in Prizren was an electoral promise in the 2021 local election campaign in this municipality.
This project was promised by Shaqir Totaj, candidate of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), for mayor of this municipality.
Was the promise kept?
Totaj managed to get the votes to lead the Municipality of Prizren, but during his mandate, the project was not only not completed, but it was not even started.
Analyze
In one video published (September 21, 2021) on Totaj's Facebook account, the planned project was presented. In the new park behind the "White House" space, an underpass was planned from the former BVI (BVI – Self-Governing Community of Interest, a socialist institution in Kosovo, which oversaw construction projects in the country) in Bazhdarhane up to 200m long, a multifunctional center with green spaces and pedestrian paths, spaces dedicated to cultural activities, green roofs dedicated to citizens and a three-level parking lot with 690 parking spaces.
Hibrid.info has researched through the search engine "Google" to find results or sources about this project, but none have been found (see here).
In a video published (September 22, 2024) on Youtube, on the official channel of the medium "Kallxo.com", in the show dedicated to verifying the promises of Mayor Totaj, hibrid.info found that the projects for the new park with the underpass and the construction of the underground parking lot were in the feasibility study phase and they had not started (see here(minute 10:53).
A video clip taken from an interview with Totaj on Radio Television "Dukagjini", published (September 12, 2025) on this medium's YouTube channel, shows the mayor of Prizren saying that the underpass project, which envisaged the construction of a park in the upper area, has been changed.
In the same content, Totaj also confirms the non-implementation of the parking lot project, the construction of which he foresees if he takes the mandate as head of the municipality of Prizren in this year's local elections (see here).
Local elections will be held on October 12, while campaign It started on September 13th and will last until October 12th.
While the campaign is still underway, on Tuesday (October 7) hibrid.info came across a video, which Totaj published on his Facebook account, presenting the revised project for the space behind the "White House".
Totaj has promised that the space above will be turned into greenery for the residents of Bazhdarhane, while under it, according to him, new parking lots will be built for the many residents and visitors. This project does not include the construction of the underpass promised four years ago (see here).
Analyze:
Shaqir Totaj had promised to build a new park behind the "White House" in Prizren, with a 200-meter underpass, a multifunctional center, green spaces, pedestrian paths, cultural activities, and an underground parking lot with 690 parking spaces.
The project was not implemented during Totaj's mandate (2021 - 2025), as the project remained in the feasibility study phase and was later revised, removing the underpass and promising for the next possible mandate, only the construction of parking lots and green spaces.
Therefore, based on the work methodology, hibrid.info evaluates the non-completion of this project as a "promise not kept".
Reasoning:
Fulfillment or keeping of promises is mainly related to pre-election promises, which are monitored at the central and local levels during the four-year mandate. This research is mainly conducted during the pre-election campaign, where the main political figures are monitored, in order to have a fact-check of what they say. Based on the promises made earlier, through the election program, Hibrid.info checks the statements of these politicians, to see if they have managed to keep those promises after the mandate. Hibrid.info plans to publish such reports on an annual basis.