Priority for products and services in supplying the population - Interview with the Minister of Light Industry, BASHKIM SKYJA - The important measures taken by the Party and the Government to raise low wages add to the obligations of workers in light industry. We face growing market demands and some difficulties with energy resources and foreign-currency funds, so it is necessary to do everything possible to further increase the production of consumer goods—not only in quantity, but also in variety and with higher quality. In this way, opportunities will be created for the market to absorb the amount of money put into circulation as a result of wage increases. This, naturally, calls for better support for light-industry sectors with technical and material resources, so that existing production capacities can be fully utilized. The 1991 draft plan envisages an increase in consumer goods of around 200 million lekë compared with the expected level for this year. More careful work will also be undertaken to absorb the additional currency in circulation by expanding repair and service sectors for the population—not only by expanding premises and increasing the number of service units, but also by broadening the range of services available to the public and supporting them both organizationally and through material and technical supplies, by making use of this industry’s technological waste. Implementation of the new economic mechanism will encourage the full use of the reserves within workers’ collectives to increase consumer goods and services for the population. The implementation of the improved wage system in light-industry sectors (about 50 percent of employees will benefit, with monthly wage increases of 30–80 lekë, or an annual increase in the wage fund of around 60 million lekë) will undoubtedly encourage them to work with greater commitment, mainly in some difficult sectors such as the textile, felt, and carpet and rug industries. In addition to improvements in low wages in these sectors, the ministry and enterprises have also improved the grading of jobs and work processes, to bring them more into line with other sectors, where work intensity is lower. I am fully convinced that light-industry workers will keep their important duties of supplying the population with consumer goods at the center of their attention, giving them, as the Party says, greater priority.

- ELBASAN - At the bus stops where the metallurgical workers of the «Çeliku i Partisë» combine get on, and in the workshops of various plants, you can pick up snippets of conversation and assessments that you take as the first impressions of the response to the Council of Ministers’ decision. At the converter factory, compliance with technological requirements, high discipline, and so on will be the same for everyone and parallel. “These and other improvements will naturally accompany the implementation of the Government’s decision,” says Skënder Dubali, director of the Peqin NB. In our enterprise, for some work processes, because they had lower wages, as deputy Rrapush Bahja explains to us, workers will receive as much as nearly 30 percent more than their previous wage. This increase will certainly further stimulate interest in work and production. In the continuous-casting section, for example, there are jobs where workers have different personal grades. Now workers in lower grades, who will receive wages approximately equal to those of workers in the higher personal grade, will also be encouraged to produce more steel, improve its quality, and ensure higher productivity. Consequently, the demand for accountability, as well as wages, was higher. Now, even in work processes that until now were less highly graded, the balance is changing and interest is greater; the number of young workers will also increase. The aim of producing more than we do now, without waiting for October 1, when the decision will begin to be implemented, shows that workers understand the principle... before asking the state, we must work to fill it. (Continued on page 2)

- CONVERSATION WITH SOME WORKERS IN DURRËS - “The Council of Ministers’ decision,” says Lefteri Vushi, a worker at the plastics enterprise, “naturally made us happy. But that happiness must not stop at raising a toast. What do I mean?”

(Photo report) The female cooperative members of the mountain village of Ilniçë. The miners of Tërnovë. The geologists of Lurë. Here, at the springs of Sopanikë, begins the largest drinking-water project in this area, which includes the villages beyond the Drin. (Photos: Abdurrahim Ashiku)

From the activities of the departments In a conversation with Viktor Sharra, director of the foreign relations office of the Committee for the Arts and Culture, we learned that the period through the end of this year is packed with cultural exchanges with foreign countries. “These days,” he told us, “the Tirana variety troupe left for Switzerland, where on Tuesday it gave its first performance, which was received with interest by local art lovers. By the end of the tour, this troupe will give around 20 performances in the country. Also bound for Switzerland, the folk group from the Mirditë district will leave on September 18. This group will give several performances with a rich and carefully selected program, and I am confident it will be well received. “October in particular will be a month more crowded with our cultural activities abroad. These activities will be wide-ranging: book fairs, film festivals, visual arts exhibitions, and theater performances. The major international book fair in Frankfurt is worth mentioning; we have our own pavilion there and will participate with an Albanian-language book stand and a working group. We will also take part in the international film fair in Milan. Unlike in previous years, this time we will not only buy films, but sell them as well. Another international cinematographic event where we will appear is the Medshdnetar International Film Festival in Montpellier, France. There, in addition to our films in competition, a retrospective of Albanian cinema will be held as a separate event. Another important event is the international puppet-theater festival to be held in Mistelbach, Austria, where we will appear with the Tirana Puppet Theater. Also as part of cultural exchanges with foreign countries, we expect the renowned Italian classical-music conductor Vitorio Parizi to arrive in November. He will conduct the opera «The Barber of Seville», performed by our company of the Opera and Ballet Theater. “Of course, these are some of the most important cultural exchanges with foreign countries. Next year these exchanges will expand further, both into other spheres of the arts and geographically, and I am confident they will serve to promote mutual knowledge and appreciation of the arts and culture among countries, as well as cooperation, understanding, friendship, and peace in our peninsula and in Europe.” KRISTAQ ÇOKA

• The «Marin Barleti» State Library in the city of Shkodër has a rich collection of around 230,000 books, one quarter of which are technical and scientific. • Following excavations carried out in a square in the «Teuta» neighborhood of the city of Durrës, dimensions were uncovered. Specialists concluded that a ceramic workshop operated here, dating to the Middle Middle Ages. • Thematic afternoons have been held with workers from the «29 Nëntori» NB, Savër, and others in the district of Lushnjë. In a square, a space containing ceramic vessels diverse in type and motif was discovered; thematic afternoons honoring outstanding workers have also been held, with moral and material incentives awarded, as well as performances by amateur groups.

I mean? For example, my wage really is going up, but as a worker I must increase production as much as possible. That is what we are discussing with the women in the workshop, too, because this is the basis for making our lives as good as possible. “I do not want to talk about how much I gain from the wage increase under the decision, or how much many workers in our enterprise will benefit,” says worker Ardjan Gjoka at UMB. “Those calculations have already been made. But I want to talk about something else. This decision also once again shows that the Party and the state have not—

Recently, a group from the Institute of Nuclear Physics, which works on the application of radioactive tracers in industry, in cooperation with the head of the Department of Processes and Equipment at the Faculty of Natural Sciences of UT «Enver Hoxha», as well as with the copper-smelting technologists in Laç, completed a study to determine the recovery rate of useful accompanying trace elements in copper, such as gold and cobalt, in the copper-smelting furnace in Laç. The study determined that the recovery rate of gold in copper matte is very good, over 99 percent, while the recovery rate of cobalt is satisfactory, around 73 percent. Thus, all the gold in copper-bearing ores should be recovered with high efficiency in the subsequent copper-enrichment line. As for cobalt, there is scope for further increasing its recovery rate. The diagnostic assessment of this furnace showed that, with minor repairs, it works very well and is capable of smelting quantities of copper far greater than the current amount, increasing capacity by at least 50 percent. Since this is the best furnace we have for copper pyrometallurgy, we believe that the possibility of concentrating this branch in Laç should be considered, supplying it with larger quantities of ore and concentrate, which are currently sent to other smelting plants, such as those in Gjegjian and Rubik, where they are processed without the required efficiency. The slag produced by this furnace offers no benefit for further use. JOVAN TERESKA Senior scientific associate, head of the tracer research section at IFB.

At the Institute of Nuclear Physics, the irradiation section has undertaken a study of the radiation modification of polyethylene sheet, and a study of the modification of polyethylene tubes and thin conductors is under way. The introduction of irradiated polyethylene sheet with a memory effect (produced at IFB) into the electrical and hermetic insulation of electric machines (electric motors, generators) and joints for LV and MV electric cables has saved the economy around 1,300,000 lek directly. In addition, the use of this material has replaced imported materials such as naftostromika, nastrolingato, tin, lead, etc. For defense requirements, around 1,000 meters of thin irradiated polyethylene tubing with a memory effect have been produced to insulate telephone cables. According to specialists, for the time being the use of this material is the only method with technical advantages that can readily be put into practice. The irradiation section is continuing its study on the production of thick tubes made of irradiated polyethylene and thin irradiated conductors, which will be used specifically for insulating low- and high-voltage electric cables, and wherever insulation capable of withstanding high temperatures is required. ANDON DODDIBA Head of the irradiation section at IFB.

The Chairman of the Council of Ministers, Comrade Adil Çarçani, received yesterday morning, at the seat of the Council of Ministers, the delegation of the Senate of the United Mexican States, headed by Senator Alfredo Toski Fernandez de Lara. The Chairman of the Council of Ministers, Comrade Adil Çarçani, received yesterday morning, at the seat of the Council of Ministers, the delegation of the Senate of the United Mexican States, headed by Senator Alfredo Toski Fernandez de Lara and comprising Senators Alvaro Salazar Lozano and Hustino Delegado Caloca. The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sokrat Plaka, and other comrades attended the meeting. After welcoming them, Comrade Adil Çarçani held a warm conversation with them. He expressed his pleasure at the visit from Mexico on behalf of the Chairman of the Presidium of the People’s Assembly, Comrade Ramiz Alia. During the meeting, among other things, he noted the friendly relations between Albania and Mexico and the possibilities for further expanding and concretizing them in the future in all fields. He referred to the delegation’s visit to Albania in connection with the elections of deputies to the People’s Assembly, etc. Turning to Albania’s peaceful foreign policy and its policy of cooperation, he spoke about our country’s international activities and its contribution to creating an atmosphere of peace, cooperation and understanding in the Balkans. Comrade Adil Çarçani welcomed the positive developments in Europe and Albania’s commitment to strengthening European security and cooperation, and to making its contribution to this process. The head of Senator Alfredo Toski Fernandez de Lara, thanked his hosts for the warm reception and welcome extended to them everywhere in Albania, and conveyed the greetings of the President of the United Mexican States, Dr. Karlos Salinas. (Continues on page 4)

Yesterday morning, the delegation of the Senate of the United Mexican States paid tribute at the Cemetery of the Martyrs of the Nation and at the grave of Comrade Enver Hoxha. Yesterday morning, paid tribute at the Cemetery of the Martyrs of the Nation and at the grave of Comrade Enver Hoxha. The head of the delegation, Senator Alfredo Toski Fernandez de Lara, laid a wreath beside the monument to Albania as a mark of honor and respect for the Albanian people. At the ceremony, the Mexican Senate delegation was accompanied by members of the Presidium of the People’s Assembly, Eleni Selenica and Kristaq Rama, and by Veprid Borici, head of the protocol office of the Presidium of the People’s Assembly. (ATSH)

Yesterday, the delegation of the Senate of the United Mexican States, headed by Senator Alfredo Toski Fernandez de Lara, departed. Yesterday, headed by Senator Alfredo Toski Fernandez de Lara, departed. At the invitation of the Presidium of the People’s Assembly of the People’s Socialist Republic of Albania, it had- (Continues on page 4)

[The source begins mid-sentence:] Central Committee of the Party, Comrade Foto Çami, member of the Party Central Committee and director of the Institute for the Study of International Relations, Prof. Sofokli Lazri, secretary of the League of Writers and Artists, Petro Kokushta, editor-in-chief of the magazine «Hosteni», Niko Nikolla, and other comrades. Also present were the editor-in-chief of the magazine «Hosteni», Ertim Projovski, and the director of the International Caricature Gallery, Ana Vasilevski, from Skopje, SR Macedonia (Yugoslavia). The People’s Sculptor, Muntaz Dhrami, delivered the address on the occasion. The exhibition presents 170 works by 30 of the country’s best caricaturists. (ATSH) As part of Satire and Humor Week, the national caricature exhibition opened yesterday afternoon at the Gallery of Figurative Arts in the capital. Workers from work and production centers, people from the arts and culture, contributors to the magazine «Hosteni», caricaturists, humorists, scientists, etc. attended. Members of the Political Bureau and the secretary of the Committee were also present