By Auron Tare
How shameful, when they arrest you, they don't even arrest you by your name, but by the name of those who used you.
These words came to mind this morning, as I received several messages on my phone with the title: "Mirela Kumbaro's director arrested." A headline that briefly appeared in the mainstream media and was then quickly removed, as if someone had given the order for the name of the minister's closest associate to be deleted from every headline.
In fact, the arrested lady is not an unknown name for those familiar with the field of Cultural Heritage. In 2014, a former counter employee at the Municipality of Tirana, without any outstanding professional profile or qualification, tried to secure a job in the new administration. She was not considered by anyone until suddenly, she was catapulted by the then Minister of Culture to one of the most important positions for national culture: Director of the Institute of Cultural Monuments.
In this position, she became the obedient signatory of every decision that was asked of her, permission to demolish historic villas in favor of palaces, to level the National Theater by declaring it "worthless", to build a cafe on the Acropolis of Butrint, to remove monuments from the protection list, and for many other decisions that have severely damaged the chain of cultural heritage.
With the zeal of a servant without institutional personality, she signed every request that came to her, while also taking care of her own benefits. For the “loyalty” shown, she traveled with Minister Kumbaro to every ministry where the latter was appointed, this time as Director of the Environment, signing permits, licenses and decisions that favored the destruction of the environment.
She was never recognized as an administrator serving the community, taxpayers, cultural heritage, or the environment, duties that were entrusted to her in the name of the public interest.
Rumored for active involvement in the destruction of cultural heritage, for environmentally harmful decisions, investigated for an EU project on air quality monitoring, today she is arrested for hiding hazardous waste.
This is one of the characters who have administered and "protected" our national heritage, our environment, and most recently the quality of education in Albania.
Today, for the lady in question, an end without glory but also a servant without dignity.
