HEALTH The young Albanian man, who had recently returned from abroad, voluntarily reported to the Tirana Blood Centre. He tested positive. AIDS, the third case discovered This time has the virus come from Greece? ARMAND MERO TIRANA — A young man has just come out of the Laboratory of the Blood Preservation Centre in Tirana. He had gone there to have tests done. The specialist took several blood samples from him and then the boy was escorted out and left. He walked away without knowing what he had left behind. Hidden in the vessels of his blood is what no one would ever want: the most terrible disease of this century, AIDS. “Yes, it is true,” Besim Nuri, Deputy Minister of Health, tells Gazeta Shqiptare — “the tests have confirmed that it is the AIDS virus.” Thus the third case in Albania has been discovered. He is not ill — and this is very important — it is a seropositive case. “The discovery of these seropositive cases,” Nuri says, “naturally points to the characteristics of some others as well.” The young man — whose name we are not mentioning in order to preserve his anonymity — had presented himself voluntarily to have the tests done. Some time ago he had lived for a long period in Greece. Perhaps this was what prompted the young man himself to undergo medical checks. And unfortunately, what he certainly would not have wanted happened. From the very first results, the experts at the Laboratory identified the AIDS virus. It is a bitter truth that even today — after more than a year — the doctors have still not been able to tell him. It is truly difficult, but it must be done. “It is mandatory to tell them,” Nuri continues, “because this way they also protect their own lives.” The ghost of AIDS has thus landed for the first time in Albania and has begun to spread its shadows. Its victim — also only seropositive — was a 32-year-old worker from Tirana. What caused even greater concern was the fact that he himself had been a blood donor. This led — at the time — to suspicions, which fortunately were not confirmed, that if the 32-year-old from Tirana had been infected, two small children might also have been infected. Barely a month had passed when the second case of AIDS was also discovered. But this time the situation was more complicated: it was a seropositive case, but of a sick person. At an event to make the public more aware of the AIDS problem Deputy Minister Nuri speaks “Prevention is the only weapon” TIRANA — AIDS has now become a painful reality in Albania too. Precisely for this reason, Albanian society and all state institutions and various organizations have begun to take measures to fight and prevent this phenomenon. “For this, both the state and individuals in particular must be involved,” Besim Nuri, Deputy Minister of Health, tells Gazeta Shqiptare. What has been done so far in this direction? “When I talk about state measures, I always mean preventive measures against the transmission of the virus through blood, and fortunately this has been achieved 100 percent. Since September, mandatory testing has been introduced not only for AIDS but also for Viral Hepatitis B (jaundice). This has given us the opportunity to discover cases of AIDS but also to exclude 12-15 percent of donors who had jaundice. There is still much to be done regarding sterilization and hygiene in health institutions. This is also one of the weak points. However, recently a financial operation by the EC has begun for the distribution of basic equipment — sterilization devices — throughout the country.” How does Albanian public opinion respond to these measures? “I can say that 1993 was a successful year in the prevention and fight against AIDS. Thus, about 100 people came forward voluntarily to undergo AIDS tests. This shows that people are becoming more aware, especially those who may have been at risk or at least think they were.” Ar. Me.

TIRANA — It was the suspicion that the meat sold for human consumption might end up in the capital’s meatballs and kebab shops that led to the complete blocking of a large quantity in Tirana’s freezer number 3. Recently — in order to make the removal of this meat as quick as possible — it had been considered to sell it under zoological conditions for large animals and for dog breeding. The price of 1.8 lek made the sale very attractive and almost 700 kilograms were sold. But it was precisely here that the first suspicions arose. “The idea that this meat might also be used abusively for people,” says Sole Selvani of the Veterinary Branch of Municipal District 1 in the Tirana Municipality, “forced us to block the sale even for dog breeding.” This meat belonged to a batch of about 40 tons bought by the Albanian Government around 3 and a half years ago. The meat — bought in Ireland — was blocked after only a few months by the health authorities, who deemed it unusable for humans. Since then, this goods has remained blocked in a room of the Tirana Freezer (as can also be seen in the photo by Armando Bobani). “We do not know what to do,” says Isuf Duka, Director of the Tirana Freezer, to Gazeta Shqiptare — “this meat has become a serious obstacle for us.” Many proposals have been made to eliminate this large quantity of meat. It cannot be used up only by feeding it to the animals of the zoo. One idea is to pass it on as raw material by processing the fat to some state soap-making enterprise. However, these have remained only proposals. The fact remains that the meat has occupied the freezer’s premises and is still subject to abuse.

IN SARANDË A FOREIGN SHIP VIOLATES ALBANIAN TERRITORIAL WATERS — Another foreign ship violated Albanian territorial waters. “Sil” of Pireos”, with a Russian crew, was intercepted by the Albanian coastal guards. After this the ship was again taken in by the forces of maritime district number 4 in the port of Saranda. There the Albanian authorities fined it 1,000 dollars. According to the captain, its destination was the port of Ravenna in Italy. IN KRUJË FINANCIAL VIOLATIONS BY ENTERPRISE MANAGERS ARE DISCOVERED — There are 4 managing officers of the Repair-Services enterprise of Koqës, who have committed violations of financial discipline. According to an inspection carried out by the Financial Police, it turns out that the 4 managers took for themselves bribes and misappropriated 268 thousand lek. This act constitutes a serious violation because under current law, every employee may receive only up to two monthly salaries as a bonus. IN KORÇË, FIVE THOUSAND NEW TELEPHONE NUMBERS — There will be 5,000 new radio-antenna numbers that will be added to the city network of Korçë. So far the projects and contracts have been completed and their implementation is about to begin. Once in operation, this new central office will make it possible for national and international telephone links — in Korçë, Kolonjë, Devoll and Pogradec — to be brought up to modern standards. This project is part of the plan to restructure Albanian telecommunications for the improvement of the telephone interconnection structure throughout Albania.

Imami, Kalakula, Beqiri and Hoti remain outside TIRANA — The composition of the commission for drafting the Constitution changes. It was a proposal by Prime Minister Meksi — who is also the chairman of this commission — to remove Idajet Beqiri (Chairman of the National Unity Party) and Namik Hoti (Chairman of the Ecological Party) from it. Meksi’s proposal was followed by another — made by the parliamentary group of the Democratic Party — to remove deputies Abdi Baleta from the Kalakula Party from the composition of the Draft Constitution Commission — since they have left this parliamentary group — and replace them with deputies Ali Spahia and Liri Delia. Within this framework, the proposal also included a request to admit PD deputy Halit Shamata to the commission and to remove from it the PAJ deputy, Abraham Ilia. These proposals sparked many discussions. PSD deputy Laco expressed the opinion that on the list of proposals there still remain representatives of almost non-existent political forces, while active political forces are not represented. Deputy Spahia — chairman of the PD parliamentary group — spoke against removing Beqiri and Hoti from the commission. Deputy Doko — chairman of the PTS parliamentary group — spoke against Beqiri’s removal. The position of deputy Baleta and Kalakula was described as a political change, but at the same time they also expressed their lack of desire to take part in the commission. It was the voting mechanism that settled the matter. By majority vote, the proposed changes to the Draft Constitution Commission were approved. The case of deputy Baleta was an exception. The proposal to remove him from the commission was not approved. In the meantime, Baleta’s vote, with his resignation, made it a reality. All these changes are being made at a time when the commission is nearing completion of its work on drafting the draft of the fundamental law of the state. It was Speaker of Parliament Arbnori himself who recently told Gazeta Shqiptare that the work of drafting the constitutional project is nearing completion and that it will soon be submitted to Parliament for consideration.

Berisha signs TIRANA — The evil-doers who commit criminal acts against military personnel will be severely punished. A decree issued by the President of the Republic “For the protection of employees in the green uniform of the military.” Thus, committing a criminal act against military personnel as well as the murder of a military person will be considered an aggravating circumstance. The decree also provides for state assistance when these personnel are killed or die in the line of duty. This assistance will consist of paying 100 percent of their salary and awarding study scholarships to the children of military personnel.

The Serbian threat TIRANA — The news of the Serbian telegrams according to American reports, concerning Albania’s 60 containers in motion from Macedonia into the territory of the former Yugoslavia, is met by the Serbs in the harshest way. According to the BBC, the Chief of the General Staff of the Yugoslav Army, General Pereshiç, has declared that in the future “Albania, by blocking territorial equipment, is moving closer to war.” According to sources from American agencies, 6 trucks transporting American weapons headed for Macedonia were blocked at the Albanian border, without pilots, failing to reach a military base in Albania in order to disrupt the air-control operation in the former Yugoslavia.

It is suspected they were stolen to boil drinks TIRANA — The problem is no longer only with the city’s waste but also with the bins and their collection. In fact, something serious has begun to happen with the problem of the latter. Until recently, what troubled the authorities was the lack of bins. A dozen such bins, deemed necessary for the distribution of Tirana, were imported in over 2,000 galvanized bins, 40 by 1.5 meters, at more than 40 dollars each. They began to be distributed around the capital, raising hopes among citizens that they would no longer encounter piles of rubbish near the entrances of buildings or along the roadside. But surprises often overturned those hopes. A very large and invisible hand — it “snatched” tens of bins with great speed. The hypotheses are the most varied. Some claim that the bins are used for boiling raki. Others insist they are used for other purposes. In any case, the director of the cleaning enterprises was forced to take protective measures against this theft. Despite the citizens’ outrage, the distribution of the bins was halted. They now remain in storage awaiting a new solution. And it seems that the solution will not be long in coming. The directorates of the enterprises — in consultation with the Municipality — have decided to drill some holes in the bins, making it impossible to use them for boiling raki or for other purposes. Thus it is hoped that the theft will stop. A.B.

Qafë-Mal villagers remain without a source: will they abandon the area? It is impossible to irrigate the vegetation Qafë-Mal villagers remain without a source: will they abandon the area? The mine grabs the village’s water It is impossible to irrigate the vegetation PUKA — The fairy tale of the dragon that had blocked the village’s water seems to have become reality. In the village of Qafë-Mal in the Puka district, all water sources have dried up. But not everything was as in the fairy tale. The cause of the drying up of the sources is not the arrival of some dragon but the expansion of activity in the copper mine of Fushë-Arrëz. The underground galleries have cut off the path of the waters that fed the village streams, changing their course. And the movement of villagers and of the bees’ little ones became ugly. There is no longer water needed to irrigate the plants, and there is none for the livestock either. There is also another feature that makes us distinguish this bitter reality from a fairy tale. And that this latter — in all existing versions — ends with a conclusion. On the contrary, it threatens and continues to increase pressure. In these cases — unfortunately — this is not likely to happen. Specialists rule out the possibility of the waters returning to this village. It seems the role of the saving prince has fallen to the Government. The villagers fear they will have to request relocation from Qafë-Mal. An.St

Birçe: «I would like to play at the beginning against the weaker teams» In Frankfurt the Group 7 dates are set ON PAGE 3 The ‘war’ over fish breaks out in France Violent clashes, 17 injured ON PAGE 2