The People's Advocate, Endrit Shabani, inspected the Home for the Elderly in Tirana today to take a closer look at the living conditions of pensioners and the challenges of this sector throughout the country.

After the inspection, Shabani made a concrete proposal: the assets confiscated by SPAK should be immediately returned to care homes for the elderly.

The figures make the proposal urgent. Albania has only 6 public residential centers to house the elderly, with a capacity of 330 places, while over 60 thousand elderly people live alone. Currently, the needs are higher than the free places. Meanwhile, the state owns 63 buildings confiscated from crime: hotels, villas, apartments.

"This year, 2 million euros worth of criminal and corrupt assets have been seized. Public institutions could put these assets and funds at the service of the elderly," said Shabani.

During the inspection, the Ombudsman also found a lack of medical staff and nurses, as well as a lack of treatment facilities for the elderly with serious health problems.