FACING THE TASKS, FACING THE COMMITMENTS Greater concern over shortfalls - Vlorë - The shortfalls at the soda-PVC plant weigh heavily on the district’s overall industrial production. They also weigh on the work and achievements of many enterprises in the district and elsewhere in the country. This is well known at the plant, in the district and at the ministry. But what efforts are being made to eliminate the causes of these shortfalls? At the plant, for example, they say that nearly 30 per cent of the shortfall is caused by a lack of technical gas. Efforts are being made to carry out maintenance on time, even faster, to prevent breakdowns and to service the equipment, etc. But the fact that shortcomings in the quality of this work arise—and, in some cases, even carelessness—places on the Party primary organizations and their leaders the responsibility to act more concretely on each problem, seeking more reasonable and forward-looking solutions. The district and the ministry must also provide better support to ensure the plant’s smooth operation. The regular pace of production is hindered by difficulties in supplying various raw materials or in distributing products. In particular, the irregular distribution of hydrochloric acid is a cause for concern. The plant has storage capacity for three days’ production. Irregular distribution inevitably reduces electrolysis output, with consequences for other products as well. In the first seven months, the paper factory in Lezhë, out of 98 tons of acid, took delivery of 10 tons; the oil-extraction enterprise in Vlorë received nearly 190 tons less than planned; the Tirana antibiotic plant received only 65 per cent of its allocation, and so on. Overall, 89 per cent of the planned acid has been collected. The same problem is also evident in the distribution of liquid chlorine, etc. The plant is also supplied irregularly with stone from the cement factory. During the 27 days of August, the shortage reached 2,500 tons. These and other problems deserve attention and should be resolved through better cooperation between the district sections and the ministries. But, as is acknowledged, the decisive factor remains the role of the plant’s own managers and work collectives in carrying out, to the letter, the tasks assigned to them. VANGJEL STEFA correspondent of «Zëri i popullit»

- PERMET - In implementation of the decisions of the 11th Plenum of the Party’s CC, the tasks for the second half-year also provide for employing the available workforce in the towns of Përmet and Këlcyrë. At the beginning of July, 44 people, 31 of them women, had registered with the neighbourhood people’s councils and the labour section of the executive committee. Over the past two months, steps have been taken and they have been placed in jobs, keeping in mind the criterion of increasing production without affecting the wages of workers in the departments and other activities to which these new workers are assigned.” According to an analysis carried out in recent days by the team coordinating this effort, of 20 young people who completed vocational schools, 16 have been placed in jobs matching their trades; of 98 young people who completed secondary schools, 50 have been placed; and of 44 available workers awaiting jobs, 35 have been placed. Despite the seriousness and (Continued on page 2)

- KORÇË - In conversation with Niko Rapin, an employee of the planning section of the executive committee of the district people’s council — There are 7 enterprises in the district of Korçë that have been operating under the new economic mechanism since 1 July. It is natural that everyone, whether a manager or an ordinary worker, should first ask: how did this enterprise perform against the «goods sold» indicator? It is now clear that without meeting this indicator, one cannot expect to secure net income. The answer is given plainly: of the 7 enterprises, 5 exceeded this indicator. Looking beyond this indicator, a detailed analysis conducted at enterprises with independent accounts by a group of comrades from the executive committee’s offices brings several problems to light. For example, there is justifiably talk of good experience at the garment-production enterprise. Indeed, there the new economic mechanism has, so to speak, been extended to all its components. The expenditure plan, with its corresponding analyses, has been broken down as far as the departments. The planning branch monitors expenditure promptly. The enterprise documentation creates the conditions for keeping a close rein on the use of raw and auxiliary materials. It seems that everything here has taken on a fully developed form. Nevertheless, even at this experienced enterprise, something is amiss. Here is why: the finance branch takes responsibility for monitoring the con- …of the new economic mechanism. Moving on, concern is being expressed about the new mechanism at the milk collection and processing enterprise. It is no coincidence that all the indicators here—the output of goods sold, the fulfillment of targets, production costs and profit—are at satisfactory levels. So what more can we ask for? The person in charge of the dairy workshop in Bilisht explains to us: “I am able to report accurately the income and expenses of the workshop I manage. So shouldn’t we, the seven of us employees, be held responsible for the workshop’s income and be rewarded on that basis? “Likewise, it was a good idea to link the bonuses of the workers at the faience-products enterprise to production rejects. But difficulties, both subjective and organizational, must not become an obstacle to making this a permanent standard. It is not right for workers producing washbasins, where the reject rate is low, also to bear the costs of rejects in the departments producing majolica tiles.” KOSTAQ DUKA Correspondent of ‘Zëri i popullit’

- BERAT - Among the district’s main indicators, with the exception of industrial production, which—with technological waste included—stands at 120 per cent, the operational data for the other indicators are not good. A number of adverse factors can be cited, such as the difficult hydroelectric situation and others, but they cannot be used as a screen to conceal the concrete daily work of every manager, specialist and worker. The fact that, under such difficult conditions, 22 enterprises fulfilled and exceeded their tasks demonstrates the perseverance and effective technical and organizational measures taken by these enterprises. In other words, this is experience that should be generalized throughout the district. Did we do everything well? That depends on us. This question is often asked during 15-day or monthly reviews, even though there is no reason not to ask it every day. For instance, can it be understood that NTUS-1, in its very first month of operating under the system of independent accounts, should fail to meet its plan? The same applies to the collection enterprise, which had exceeded its export target for the six-month period but, for the seven-month period, shows a shortfall because it incurred a deficit. This situation must change, and the managers must be held accountable. ASLLAN SARAÇI correspondent of «Zëri i popullit» “Come on, you’re outside the criteria,” some friends and comrades used to tell him. “You’re too old to be a driver!” And eventually he found a way through a crack in the «armour» of the criteria, just enough to register for the course. “He was born to work,” they would say—meaning, as his well-wishers put it, that he was a «born driver». His passion drove him to seek his path in life, and he found it through a thousand artificial difficulties and bureaucratic barriers. Don’t such young men deserve respect?!…

LET US DRAW ATTENTION TO THIS At the entrance to the city of Lezhë, near the greenhouses of the agricultural enterprise, you can see several people making bricks in simple kilns built from whatever materials are at hand. Farther on, on both sides of the river, you can again make out similar kilns and people making bricks and tiles. Necessity has forced these cooperative members to produce the much-needed building materials. Unable to meet their needs through the NTSH, they continue to make them in this traditional and economically worthwhile way. This is a welcome sight. But it should not be forgotten that demand for these products is greater still. Let us now see where the cooperatives obtain these building materials to meet the needs of construction in the village. Almost the only source left is the agricultural supply branch, since, apart from the cooperative of Trashan, no other agricultural economy in this district produces such building materials itself, with the exception of lime and stone, where the tradition has been preserved to some extent. Although demand is high, the leaders and economists of these economies have found it easier to ask the state for these materials. Even though some of them come from far away, from other districts; even though, in most cases, construction of a social-cultural facility in a village—a hall or a warehouse—can take two or three years because materials are lacking, the same refrain of excuses continues: «the DFB does not meet our needs for material supplies». Sometimes bricks are missing, sometimes cement, sometimes lime and sometimes stone. This half-year, too, investment in construction in the countryside reached only 35 per cent, evidently entirely because of a lack of building materials. The year passes with complaints and appeals to the committee offices that this or that material is missing, and construction is pushed into the following year. Neither the ministry nor the executive committee produces bricks or mortar. It is known that there are difficulties, and it is also known that demand is greater. But the cooperative’s problems cannot be solved by the chairman and administration through complaints. How well the members are doing! When they see that there is no other source to meet their material needs, they build and produce the materials themselves. In most cases, they do not produce just for themselves: they also sell lime, bricks, stone, etc. to the cooperative. But could the cooperative not do this in an organized way? Of course it could. The cooperative of Trashan has had, and still has, a tradition in this field; it produces for itself and sells to other economies as well. Zejmen also produces lime and stone; Ishull-Lezha and Ballçeni have had a tradition of brickmaking. How did this tradition die out when demand and the need for such materials have grown? Let us also look at the issue from the economist’s point of view. Overall, auxiliary activities in the cooperative sector of this district are planned to provide 6 per cent of total income. For the six-month period, 8 per cent of income was achieved by this sector. But what contribution do building materials make to the calculation of these activities? A total of 100,000 lekë for the entire cooperative sector for half a year; most of this income came from lime production. We learn from people’s council that building-material production is not planned for the cooperatives; in other words, it is an optional task. The state plan for industrial production is almost entirely fulfilled by bread-making and milk processing, while the rest is left to the discretion of the leaders: whoever wants to does it, and whoever does not, does not. When one leafs through the accounts for the first half of the year, almost none of the cooperatives has produced building materials. Apparently, these figures remain in the accounts merely as an echo of tradition. Cooperative presidiums should not take this lightly, especially since needs are very great and this year’s construction projects have been left «up in the air». Economic interest will grow when the economies take this activity seriously; mountain cooperatives in particular can secure substantial income through sales. THANAS SAHAÇIÇU THANAS SAHATÇIU

Yesterday morning, Sihat Tozaj, Secretary of the Presidium of the People’s Assembly, received at the headquarters of the Presidium of the People’s Assembly the parliamentary delegation of the Republic of Finland, headed by Markus Aaltonen, Chairman of the Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee. After welcoming them, he acquainted the guests from Finland with the functioning of the People’s Assembly, its Presidium and Standing Committees, and with the activities of deputies as representatives of the people in the highest organ of state power. During the conversation, he focused in particular on the work being done to further deepen the democratization of the country’s life, improve our socialist legislation, the mechanism for electing deputies to the People’s Assembly, etc. He stressed that the visit of the parliamentary delegation of the Republic of Finland would contribute to the further development of relations between our two peoples. The guests from Finl-anda thanked their hosts for the reception and expressed their feelings of friendship and respect for the Albanian people, as well as their hope that cooperation between the parliaments of our two countries would further develop in various fields of mutual interest. The reception took place in a warm and friendly atmosphere. (ATSH)

Albanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Reis Malile received yesterday the parliamentary delegation of the Republic of Finland, headed by Markus Aaltonen, Chairman of the Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee. Albanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Reis Malile received yesterday Markus Aaltonen, Chairman of the Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee. During the warm and friendly conversation, the two sides discussed positive developments in relations between Albania and Finland and expressed their mutual wish for these friendly relations and cooperation to develop further, for the benefit and in the interests of our peoples. At the meeting, views were also exchanged on the current process of security and cooperation in Europe and on both sides’ interest in the positive processes currently taking place on the continent. The meeting also discussed Balkan cooperation and the efforts being made to advance it. (ATSH)

The Minister of Foreign Trade, Shefqet Kërçeli, had a cordial meeting yesterday with the Chairman of the Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Markus Aaltonen. During the meeting, views were exchanged on the possibilities for further expanding trade exchanges and cooperation between the two countries. (Continued on page 4)

The homeland is the mountains and plains, the rivers and seas, all the land within the state border. The homeland is also its people, those who have bound their lives, generation after generation, to the soil that bears the name Albania! It is our compatriots who give Albania its good name and who live beneath it and bring it glory. Albanian soil and subsoil are rich, but the world of Albanians is richer still. Much has been said and written about Albanians, and people still speak and write about them, but it is difficult to fathom the whole spiritual world of an Albanian. The outlook and psychology of our compatriots evolve from day to day, and new motives are added to their lives. But the Homeland does not change, just as parentage cannot be changed. Impressions The driver Naxhip Domeri is my fellow villager. He works with a gasoline-powered “gas” vehicle belonging to the Konispol cooperative. He has also obtained his diesel-driving licence, and his greatest wish is to see himself at the wheel of a large truck, one of those that run on diesel. Xhipa must be past thirty; in fact, if I am not mistaken, he has become a father too. In the village he has a one-storey house with three rooms, a courtyard and a garden with all kinds of fruit trees and grapevines that cover the house with their greenery. Xhipa has got his life on track. The vehicle keeps him going, and he deserves praise for the work he does. The work he does truly satisfies him. Driving is his trade, and both the cooperative’s managers and the people are pleased with his work. They don’t say bad things about him for nothing (you can always find a reason to criticize a driver, if only because he left you behind on the road). No one has ever had to wait for him to make a fuss. In any case, Xhipa is able to win people over. It was precisely this ability that helped him succeed in pursuing his passion. There is a rule that young people aged 16–18 should take the drivers’ course, preferably as soon as they have finished eight-year school and before going into military service. But Xhipa was unable to enroll in the course at that age, no matter how passionate he was! And this is precisely where his “odyssey” begins: he got to know all kinds of drivers and, as soon as he got out of one vehicle, he would climb into another. While his friends continued at secondary school, Xhipa’s life, full of hardships, unfolded in the cabins of vehicles. He learned the trade like no one else, though he could not advance because he lacked a licence and certificate. Even when he eventually got his licence, although he had put his work on track and had the experience too, he still faced obstacles. He had completed his military service but had not served as a driver; his attempts to obtain what he was striving for ran up against all sorts of rules… “You don’t meet the criteria,” some friends and companions told him, “you’re too old to become a driver!” And eventually he found a crack in the “armor” of the criteria, just enough to enroll in the course. People at work told me he was a “born driver,” to use the words of those who wish him well. bureaucratic barriers. Don’t such young men deserve our respect?!… • The biochemistry teacher Uzri Alku, 29, is from Grazhdan in Dibër. His childhood and youth followed an ordinary course, like those of many boys and girls with great ambitions for knowledge and culture, who, after completing secondary school with good results, go on to study one university discipline or another, to become the cadres of the future. Uzri attended the institute in Shkodër, and when he finished, he was appointed a teacher in Pashkët e Gollobordës. He made no claims about where he should be assigned based on the results he had achieved in his studies; instead, he was sent to a remote place, as a teacher—or at least as a full-time teacher at the eight-year school in Pashkët, where he had earned the respect of his colleagues through his commitment and dedication. In the fields of the press, like a grown-up child, from the beginning of school until today…” (Continued on page 3)

The workers Shaban Bedria and Llukan Prifti are among the most outstanding at the Fier SMT. (Photo: N. Xhufka) The workers Shaban Bedria and Llukan Prifti are among the most outstanding at the Fier SMT. (Photo: N. Xhufka)