FACING THE TASKS, FACING THE COMMITMENTS There are still 5 months to go before this year's plan is completed, which is also the final year of the five-year plan. Despite the many difficulties, quite a few districts, individual branches of the economy, economic enterprises and agricultural cooperatives are leading in achieving the plan indicators. Meanwhile, in quite a few cases, difficulties are used as a blanket to cover shortcomings and deficiencies at work, reflected in various failures to meet targets. It is necessary to work with discipline everywhere, strengthen accountability, do everything possible to bring this year's plan to a successful close, as a special year, and prepare for the approaching first year of the new five-year plan. Here is what our correspondents and ATSH write to us:

The tasks set by the Party for the development of livestock farming, and especially the recent decision of the Political Bureau to strengthen the cooperative household plot, have spurred livestock breeders in the Tropoja district to surpass their previous achievements. Milk production for this period reached 106 per cent, yielding 1,001 kg more than the target, while deliveries to the state reached 123 per cent. Meat production and deliveries reached 104 and 127 per cent, respectively; egg production reached 119 per cent, and so on. Good work has also been done to increase livestock numbers, reduce losses and raise fertility. The livestock breeders of the Dragobia agricultural cooperative have become standard-bearers in achieving high results, having fulfilled their annual milk-production target within the month of August. The livestock breeders of Shipshan, Pac, Curraj të Epërm, etc., are following their example. The number of livestock breeders distinguished by high achievements, following the example of the Hero of Socialist Labour, Islam Vatoci, who in the first 6 … months obtained 73 litres per head from the 310 sheep in his brigade, has multiplied. The introduction of new economic mechanisms, the implementation of new forms of remuneration, taking flocks into one’s care for tending, coordinating and ensuring their feed supply, etc., are helping to increase livestock-product yields as well as shepherds’ wages, du... …ties have been made with regard to the base and net income. In just the last two months, in many livestock farms, breeders and specialists have received wage increases of about 40 per cent compared with the same period last year. Comparing their work with the decisions of the Party Central Committee’s 10th and 11th Plenums and with the instructions of Comrade Ramiz Alia, the livestock breeders of this district are finding new reserves. They have concluded that, given the district’s natural conditions, the current organization of flocks with large numbers of animals is neither practical nor effective. Therefore, to make them easier to manage and make better use of all grazing resources, small-stock flocks will be organized in smaller groups of 40–50 head, while cows will be grouped in lots of 5–8. This will engage more than 30 per cent of the workforce in livestock farming, compared with the current 10–12 per cent. They will also extend the practice of taking flocks into one’s care under contract to provide year-round services and secure their feed supply… Special attention is being paid to increasing livestock numbers, especially small stock, which will increase by more than 10 per cent this year. The livestock breeders have pledged to fulfil their annual milk-production plan by November 29 and to deliver 3,000 quintals more milk by the end of the year. (ATSH)

Meeting the targets for the remaining part of this period is also linked to successfully completing the year and the entire five-year plan. To find out how work is proceeding and what concrete results have been achieved so far, yesterday we went to the Ministry of the Food Industry. We made inquiries at several of this ministry’s operating directorates. For several months, the Grain Collection and Processing Directorate and the Oil, Baking and Canning Directorate have each had a worker from the Tirana flour factory and food combine assigned to them as “assistance.” In other words, they are taken away from their respective enterprises and do their “work” at the Ministry. That is not what we mean here. But even though staff numbers have increased, the specialists in these directorates cannot provide you with accurate figures for achievement of the seven-month targets. A week of August has already passed, and, thinking that we might learn something about how work has been progressing in recent days, we have difficulty even finding out about the previous month. Only at the Meat and Milk Directorate and the Export Directorate were we given more accurate information on achievement of the targets for this period. At the Oil, Beverages and Can- Directorate… (Continued on page 2)

WE DRAW YOUR ATTENTION Among the series of important measures relating to the further democratization of life in our country, an important place is occupied by those adopted at the 11th Plenum of the Party Central Committee concerning the reorganization of services and artisan crafts and the organization of the farmers’ market. In implementation of these Party guidelines, recently the Council of Ministers of the People’s Socialist Republic of Albania adopted two important decisions: “On the reorganization of services and artisan crafts” and “On the organization of the farmers’ market.” The main purpose of these decisions is to improve work so as to meet the people’s demands and needs better, in both quantity and quality, by expanding the network of services through the opening of many shops and workshops providing all kinds of services. To achieve these aims, the decision “On the reorganization of services and artisan crafts” sets out tasks for state enterprises and artisan cooperatives, such as matters concerning their relations with the state, which are based on financial obligations specified periodically in fixed amounts. These obligations include the share of the product allocated to society, the depreciation fund, the insurance premium for fixed assets and the social insurance contribution. Likewise, the decision “On the organization of the farmers’ market” instructs the executive committees of the people’s councils of the districts to take the appropriate measures to organize and administer the farmers’ market, as well as to carry out hygiene and health inspections, veterinary inspections, and enforce the rules for selling various products. This decision assigns specific duties to the state sanitary inspectorate, the veterinary service inspectorate and other specialized bodies, requiring them to carry out systematic inspections of the farmers’ market so that it operates in accordance with the regulations in force. Therefore, every citizen, and especially these employees, must properly understand their legal obligation to carry out systematic, planned and spot inspections, so that this type of activity is properly regulated and operates uniformly according to established rules. The decision “On the organization of the farmers’ market” emphasizes that the sale of agricultural and livestock products outside the organized farmers’ market is prohibited. This is an obligation for every citizen selling agricultural and livestock products from their private plot. If individual citizens violate the rules governing the organization and operation of the farmers’ market, the service personnel appointed by the executive committee have the right to fine them on the spot for an offence and to prohibit them from selling those agricultural and livestock products. emphasizes that citizens may work privately only after obtaining a licence to practise their profession. Without it, no citizen has the right to engage in this kind of service. If a trade or profession is practised without permission from the relevant bodies, the citizen is subject to an administrative fine as an offender, and the tools of their trade may even be confiscated by the head of the finance and inspection-audit section of the executive committee of the district people’s council. The approved decisions encourage initiative in enterprises and artisan cooperatives, since these will be entitled, in addition to planned investment and supplies, to act independently to obtain raw materials, set prices, etc., provided these are in accordance with the criteria established for this purpose in special regulations. All citizens who engage in private commercial or artisan activities—that is, who open their own shops to provide various services, such as shoemaking, tailoring, photography, etc., or to sell various products such as meat, sugar, etc.—are required to pay the state a sum from their earnings toward social insurance. This income will be used to secure a pension for them or to provide social-insurance benefits in the event of disability caused by illness or accident. In this case, the rates levied on their income are set by the Ministry of Finance. When citizens sell agricultural or livestock products at the farmers’ market, they must pay a service fee set by the price bureau attached to the executive committee of the district people’s council. What is this fee? If a cooperative member wants to sell something, they go to the farmers’ market, which has been built with state funds, where the necessary items for making the sale, such as scales, etc., are made available to them. For this service provided by the state, they pay a set fee, which must not exceed the maximum limits approved by the Ministry of Internal Trade in cooperation with the Ministry of Finance. These revenues cover the costs of maintaining the farmers’ market. The difference is paid into the state budget. The wages of employees engaged in artisan or trading services in any unit, enterprise or artisan cooperative are formed from the income remaining after production costs and financial obligations have been paid. Those permitted to sell at the farmers’ market, on the other hand, will set their prices according to market demand and supply. Also important are the measures to reorganize artisan services into three forms: state, cooperative and private. Under the Council of Ministers’ decision, these are separated from the municipal economy system and transferred to the light-industry system. Private commercial units, such as those selling meat, soft drinks, sugar products, etc., are transferred to the domestic-trade system. FEHMI ABDIU Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Court of the People’s Socialist Republic of Albania etc., or where they will market various products made from meat, sugar, etc., they are obliged to set aside a sum of money from the revenues they earn—

- Durrës - - Seven-month export targets at district level have been met at 101.4 per cent. The leading enterprises continue to set the pace - A good tradition has now been established in meeting export targets. The figures speak for themselves. For several months, and in each quarter, the targets have been met (Continued on page 2)

- Korçë - - A conversation with Anesti Guri, secretary of the Executive Committee of the District Party Committee. - As soon as we had completed the seven-month period, a critical look at the indicators for this period showed that the efforts of the district’s work collectives to fulfill their tasks had been increasing. Nevertheless, in view of the demands of the times and the targets for this year, the final year of the Eighth Five-Year Plan, the efforts must undoubtedly be even greater. During this period, at district level, the industrial gross production plan was fulfilled at 101 percent, or industrial products worth 6.2 million lekë above the target were produced. The results for these seven months, compared with (Continued on page 2)

- GJIROKASTËR - The people of the Kardhiq region celebrated the 47th anniversary of the formation of the “Asim Zeneli” partisan battalion. Wreaths were laid beside the memorial dedicated to the battalion’s fallen. A rally was held at the unit, attended by a member of the Political Bureau of the Party’s Central Committee and Minister of Industry, Mines and Energy, comrade Besnik Bekteshi; the First Secretary of the District Party Committee, Manxhar Binaj; the chairman of the Executive Committee of the District Party Committee, Flamur Canaj; and other comrades. On behalf of the Party’s Central Committee, the Council of Ministers, the General Council of the FDPSH, and personally our beloved leader, comrade Ramiz Alia, those present were greeted by the who spoke about the combat history of this formation, the patriotic traditions of the people of this region, and their contribution during the war and today to implementing the Party’s decisions on the democratization of the country’s life. A telegram was sent from the rally to the First Secretary of the Party’s Central Committee, comrade Ramiz Alia. - KORÇË - In the Devoll area of the Korçë district, the 48th anniversary of the formation of the “Morava” partisan detachment and the 47th anniversary of the formation of the partisan battalion wer- (Continued on page 3) ...ician Minister of Industry, Mines and Energy, comrade Besnik Bekteshi, the Party’s Central Committee, comrade Ramiz Alia.

France, where it will take part in the international folk festival of Confolens. (ATSH)

Reportage History hides in the depths, in the fifth cave, where the castle is mentioned for the first time. Something is also said in the annals of a Turkish chronicler, but the past remains once again a wall that cannot be conquered, while people look ahead. How did the three destructions and then the miraculous reconstructions of the castle come about, up to Ali Pasha’s attacks? Time, according to its laws, has answered this question once and for all. Yet Tepelena remained, though its appearance was somewhat rebuilt in more recent years; its essence, the spirit of its settlements, was preserved intact. That is what today tells us. High up at the castle, the wind blows from Mezhgoran, from the gorges of Bënça and Drinos, while the verses of the noble English lord Byron, who passed through here long ago, seem to echo once again: “Like a meteor in the sky, the towers of Tepelena, and the castle walls above the river—how they make you hear the din of battles...” History, war, and the present came together here at one point, and from here comes a thought about this land: that this place has always stood the test of time, believing in its own strength on the road toward a better future. Recently, several changes have taken place in Tepelena: the posts of 11 instructors in the Party Committee were cut, following the initiative of Berat, and just as many in the executive committee. There are no longer office staff roaming after the combine harvester in the fields, dealing with trifles. Instead, there are groups of instructors working at the grassroots. The secretary follows them as well. Some departments in the executive committee were also merged, while some officials were given direct production duties. The organizational changes were accompanied by economic measures, so that what had been left hanging halfway down the road could be set right. The number of enterprises in the district was doubled, making divisions where necessary and establishing new ones. Time showed that the district could not pride itself on “the whole,” while the people also wanted “small items.” Small-scale production is useful, and that is what they are now setting up. The district delivered 3,000 quintals of cheese to the state, yet had no food-processing enterprise. Another tradition had also been lost, such as wool processing, while the women here continued to weave on looms. A food-processing enterprise was opened, and three new enterprises were created out of the collection enterprise. Now state trade will have carpets and divans made by its own enterprise, while the products may also be suitable for export. These new divisions provided jobs for about 260 additional workers, and all this was done without expenditure; but to get the sewing-products enterprise under way, only 20 sewing machines from Tirana and a little raw material were needed to start. The other resources were already there, but some specialists did not see them, as if their way had been blocked. Now it is a matter of seeing and doing, of acting without hesitation. For those involved in the changes, the concrete ideas of the latest plans are being put forward, not simply as... but first and foremost as measures to be implemented. That is what the head of the district industry section says, adding with a slight smile that now is the time to work. One must not sit with one’s arms folded, waiting for new orders; one must put forward new ideas—which means not merely making noise in the newspaper, but seeing “what you yourself can concretely contribute, and more, through your own initiative.” The heat of the season seems to have dried out the soil and the plants, but Begë Muça, chairman of the Turan cooperative, still walks lightly, like someone whose work is going well. He is going to give the 36 women of one brigade their reward for exceeding the wheat plan, thank them for their work, and remind them of the coming season. His eyes are smiling, but he is still thinking about what is on his mind; now you can hear him repeating the words he often says to a chairwoman of this wretched thing called agriculture, out in the open under the sky, where you never know... Two years earlier, the Dukat cooperatives, where Begë was chairman, were divided into several smaller ones. Each economic unit received its land, material resources and inventory, territorial assets and investments, while Turan was left with the slope. “It had neither good land, nor equipment, nor stones; the new force from Met-etrina [unclear] chose Begë, who took the initiative and asked to lead the cooperative when it was being established. Under these conditions, the land had to be exploited, and Turan was not suited to that. At that time, while the villagers were working, they all cooperated for the common good...” (Continued on page 3)

At the control panel: the food-processing enterprise in Sarandë has continually increased its level of mechanization. (Photo: N. Xhufka)