Continuous attention has been devoted to improving socialist relations in production. A special place in this regard is occupied by improving forms of remuneration for work and material incentives as a whole. And this is understandable: wages are the most sensitive and tangible aspect of these relations. Nominal wages are the main source of growth in employees’ incomes. Material incentives are realized chiefly through the wage lever. Therefore, improvements in the field of remuneration for work have been frequent. They have also been reflected in the new economic mechanism, whose distinguishing feature is the increased incentive achieved through exceeding the profit plan. The Council of Ministers’ decision “On increasing the low wages of employees,” issued in implementation of the tasks set by the 11th Plenum of the Party’s Central Committee, contains another measure in the general and continuous policy of our Party and state to raise the people’s standard of living. But it has several features that distinguish it from previous measures in a number of key respects. The amount employees will receive from increases in low wages and adjustments to intermediate wages is quite substantial. It is one of the most significant wage increases made to date. Under this decision, employees in the state sector will receive around 430 million lekë. If we add to this the benefits under the decision on pay according to the category of the process or workplace, and the decree guaranteeing 80 percent of wages when work is interrupted through no fault of the worker, the total exceeds 500 million lekë. The impact of this measure will be significant for remuneration and material incentives for workers in several branches and sectors. Nevertheless, those measures had been partial in character. By contrast, the above decision brings more substantial improvements to the wage-scale tables in the light industry and food industry systems, which employ around 150,000 people. Improvements are also being felt in heavy industry, mining and energy, construction, transport, trade and services for the people: in education, culture, health, local institutions, and so on. The implementation of this decision will be highly beneficial in agriculture and beverages, where more than 90 percent of employees will benefit. The main rule followed in raising low wages has been to reduce the number of categories and narrow the differences between them. As a rule, the first category has been eliminated in all branches, with the wage scale beginning at the second-category rate. This needs to be clearly explained to work collectives, especially to those workers who have so far received the second-category wage, but whose category will be called the first as of October 1. In some branches, categories have been merged up to and including the third category. In agriculture, forestry, the printing industry, and elsewhere, an additional increase in wage rates has also been introduced. The decision also provides for improvements to the wage tables of certain employees in education and technical bodies, such as technicians in various specialties, timekeepers, accountants, draftsmen, laboratory assistants, teachers, educators, nurses, typists, and others. The measures in this decision create opportunities to narrow substantial differences between different groups of workers and between employees. At a time when consumer goods in general (Continued on page 2) Under this decision, workers in the state sector will benefit by benefits arising from the decision on wages from interrupted through no fault of the worker, the total then exceeds 500 million lekë. The effect on the increase in each worker’s average annual wage will be more than 600 lekë, while for some categories of workers with lower wages it will exceed 1 thousand tera thousand others. Thus, this is a decision that applies to a broad section of workers. It is understood that this will further mobilize and encourage them to increase their participation at work, meet and exceed quotas, and produce higher-quality work, thereby increasing the effectiveness of the use of the wage fund and other production expenses. The increase covers workers in all branches and sectors of the economy and culture. In recent years, quite significant improvements have been made to ... [text continues, cut off] ... ...

WE DRAW YOUR ATTENTION The prolonged drought and high temperatures mean that cotton harvesting is beginning in many districts 10–12 days earlier than last year. This is also reflected in the work results. Compared with a year ago, around 1,850 tons more have been harvested nationwide so far. Nevertheless, there is no room for complacency. The figures show that in the fields of Lushnjë and Fier alone, around 3,500–4,000 tons of second-grade cotton remain unharvested. The pace of harvesting is not being matched by the agricultural enterprises with their work crews. It is time for the daily harvesting schedule in these districts to reach 350–400 tons a day, rather than the 150–180 tons being achieved today. Delaying the cotton harvest means reducing the economic value of this crop, since the showers that are falling and may continue to fall will have an adverse effect not only on its quality but also on the increase in losses. Care must also be taken to ensure a high-quality harvest. Not every white boll is technically ripe, as all cotton specialists and pickers know. But in practice this detail can be forgotten. The consequences are not minor. Whereas in 1988–89 the value of a ton of cotton in the districts of Lushnjë and Durrës reached around 6,000–6,500 lekë, in the district of Fier it was no more than 5,400–5,700 lekë. Even during the first days of the harvest, the requirement for high quality is sometimes being set aside. For example, the district of Lushnjë has so far harvested around 900 tons and delivered only 40 tons of third-grade cotton, while Fier, out of 850 tons, has delivered around 150 tons of third-grade cotton. Let us not forget that the rapid transport of cotton from agricultural enterprises and collection centers to the ginning factories is also a problem. There are still unjustified obstacles at the goods depots.

A NEW CAMPAIGN HAS BEGUN Strong organization overcomes difficulties and shortages The managers of the SMT are not waiting for replacement parts to be brought to their door. The workshop is working three shifts on repairs. At the other SMTs and at the tractor combine, every available part is being sought to meet the needs of the campaign. — SARANDA — In the face of a great deal of work, organization is the key. This is the situation facing agricultural workers these days in Saranda as well. Many difficulties have to be overcome: shortages of fuel, spare parts, and so on must be made up for. To do this, the order of tasks must be set correctly. Forces and equipment must be rationed so that late crops can be harvested at the same time as preparations are made for sowing wheat and forage crops and for tending the crops already planted. How is this situation assessed? The district chief agronomist, Lutfi Bajrami, whom we meet at the Pal section of the Vurg Agricultural Enterprise, says that there is indeed a concentration of work. Speed is required. There is no time to wait. They have tried to calculate not by the day but by the hour, because any underestimation means less production. This year, specialists are giving greater attention to earliness. The indicators achieved so far across the district bear this out. More than 35 percent of the area to be sown with wheat has been scheduled. The sowing of forage crops for cows has been completed. Sowing of fodder crops for small livestock is nearing completion, and work is proceeding at a faster pace on sowing other forage crops as well. “At the beginning of the autumn-sowing campaign, it seemed you were not quite confident,” we say to Thodhori Loli, director of the SMT. “That’s true,” he says. “Our tractors were occupied, and dozens of other tractors were waiting to be repaired. Some lacked tracks, others gears, bearings and other spare parts. They are busy harvesting maize and preparing silage. We thought we could wait. But we were wrong. Instead of waiting for spare parts, we went ourselves to other SMTs around the country and to the tractor combine. Repairing the spare parts proved helpful. The repair workshop went onto three shifts. Reserves were put to use here. All the wheeled tractors are working. But they also have to make up for the shortcomings of the tracked tractors, whose readiness is low. The machinery is also in good condition in the sectors of the Vrina and Vurg Agricultural Enterprises.” But there are also obstacles. One of them is the shortage of superphosphate. Reserves have been used to overcome this difficulty. The seed department is a link on which all the enterprises depend. Measures have been taken here to ensure that all the seed is ready for sowing, so that there is no interruption to the schedule. BARDHYL BEJKO

The symposium “Berat, its values and their restoration” continued its proceedings yesterday morning. Also present were the Minister of Education, Shkëndër Gjinushi; the chairman of the Committee for Culture and the Arts, Alfred Uçi; Central Committee member Spiro Koleka; the first secretary of the District Party Committee, Hysen Shahu; the chairman of the District Executive Committee of the People’s Council, Stavri Rista; and other comrades. Albanian and foreign scholars presented a series of papers. The architect Teodor Paskali, director of the Institute for Restoration of Macedonia (Yugoslavia), in his paper “Ohrid: Problems of Reassessing and Revitalizing the City’s Old Urban Fabric,” emphasized the historical and material-culture values of this city, which UNESCO has designated a monument of world cultural heritage. After thanking the organizers for the opportunity to take part in these activities and visit Albania, he spoke highly of the great cultural and material values of the Albanian people and of the ability and expertise of our specialists in the field of restoration. Henri Raulin, senior research associate at the Museum of Popular Arts and Traditions in Paris, presented the paper “Conservation and the Place of Albanian Architecture in the European Context, Primarily Urban Dwellings and Those Built of Adobe,” in which he noted, among other things, that the study of Albania’s rich vernacular architecture cannot be carried out solely within the framework of its values inside the country, but must be linked to the European ensemble of which it is a part. He went on to discuss (Continued on page 3)

— TROPOJË — Land cleared and beautifully leveled. It has been harrowed and is being sown quickly. The smell of ploughed earth is a pleasure on this day in the fields of the Tplani agricultural cooperative. Thirty hectares of rye have been sown here, and work is moving quickly to sow all 50 hectares planned and to begin sowing wheat as soon as possible as well, a task that will continue into October. With this good start, Tplani is the most advanced agricultural enterprise in the district in autumn sowing. But how is everyone else doing? Ali Berbati, head of the agriculture section at the Executive Committee of the People’s Council of Tropojë District, says that, with the aim of completing the plan for sowing land with rye within September, ploughing has been carried out carefully; of the 900 hectares planned, 700 have been ploughed so far. This makes it possible not only to sow rye quickly, but wheat as well. Tplani, Babina and Tropoja have made better progress with sowing. Work has begun everywhere. But some are behind, such as the Berisha agricultural cooperative. We discuss Berisha, since speeding up is essential in all the enterprises. All preparations have also been made for sowing wheat. The SMT machinery is fully ready. All the seed has been secured. The only problem troubling the farmers of this district in connection with sowing is superphosphate, which has still not arrived in the required quantity. Everyone is confident that after this good start, the pace will pick up and the objective will be achieved. HALIL BUÇPAPAJ

— ELBASAN — The end of one agricultural campaign also marks the beginning of another. In this sense, the aim for the new campaign now beginning is to enter it as well prepared as possible and to eliminate as many as possible of the shortcomings and weaknesses of the past. With this aim, preparations for autumn sowing have also begun in the district of Elbasan, where nearly 14,000 hectares will be sown with wheat alone. But, as can be seen, ploughing is not progressing at the required pace. A comparison with last year makes this clear. Whereas so far 14 been ploughed, at this time last year (Continued on page 2)

— THE THIRD VOLUME OF THE COLLECTION “WHAT THE KOSOVARS SAY AND WHAT THEY DEMAND” HAS BEEN PUBLISHED AND RELEASED — The third volume of the collection “What the Kosovars Say and What They Demand” includes articles published in the Kosovo press and in other parts of Yugoslavia during recent months. The materials collected in this volume are preserved and reflect the experiences of the Albanians of Kosovo; they are present in all manifestations, even in the other republics, characterized by the republic, a political plate, promenade, legal and political [unclear] of Serbia and the Albanian province, and by state terrorism, genocide and national and cultural regragacion [?]. Instead of dialogue, the Kosovo alternative for a democratic solution has been met with [unclear], including the removal of ... The collection contains important historical documentation expressing the united will of the Kosovo people—with the Constitutional Declaration adopted by 114 delegates of the Provincial Assembly on July 2 of this year, which proclaimed Kosovo an independent and equal subject within Yugoslavia, in the framework of a federation or confederation. This Declaration also proclaims the constitutional position of the population of Kosovo and its Assembly as an act of political self-determination within Yugoslavia. According to the authors, this declaration would provide a sound basis for drafting Kosovo’s new Constitution, and would be a democratic “act of historically restoring the right trampled upon for so many years of the Albanian people, who by force ...” (Continued on page 4)

Yesterday, in Libohovë, in the district of Gjirokastër, the house-museum of the distinguished patriot and revolutionary democrat, People’s Hero Avni Rustemi, was inaugurated. Residents of the town, veterans, relatives of the hero, deputies and councillors, young men and women, and Enver pioneers attended the ceremony held in front of the house-museum. Also present were the first secretary of the District Party Committee, Manxhar Binaj, the chairman of the Executive Committee of the District People’s Council, Flamur Canaj, and others from the districts of Tepelenë and Vlorë. Bajram Abdia, chairman of the Democratic Front of the Marine neighborhood of the town, spoke about the distinguished patriotic and revolutionary life and activity of People’s Hero Avni Rustemi. The ribbon was cut by veteran Hashi Krol. Those present visited the museum rooms, beginning with a reconstruction of the simple room where the hero was born, as well as photographs and documents that tell of his service to the Homeland from the earliest years of his youth, when he was a teacher in Libohovë, Tepelenë, Cërrik, and Vlorë. Next come important moments from his life, such as the heroic act against the notorious traitor Esat Pashë Toptani in Paris, which caused a great sensation not only in Albania and France, but also in many countries around the world. The other rooms, through various displays, also portray the activities of political, patriotic, and revolutionary organizations during 1920–1924 and Avni Rustemi’s major contribution as their organizer and direct leader, and as one of the central figures of the pan-Albanian democratic movement. Amateur performers from the town’s “Kujtim Ruli” House of Culture presented the musical-literary monodrama “The Great Hero Avni Rustemi, Torchbearer of Freedom, Patriotism and Democracy.” (ATSH)

The people of the district of Krujë celebrated, as comrade Abdyl Baca greeted them, the 46th anniversary of the town’s liberation from foreign occupiers and the country’s traitors, and the 46th anniversary of the formation of the 23rd Assault Brigade. At the district war martyrs’ cemetery and at the monument dedicated to this brigade, tributes were paid and wreaths were laid on behalf of the Central Committee of the Party, the Party Committee, the Executive Committee of the People’s Council, the district mass organizations, etc. On this occasion, a rally was held in the town’s main square, attended also by the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Party, comrade Abdyl Baca, Council, Petraq Kullim, and other comrades. The rally was opened by Qemal Bregasi, first secretary of the district Party Committee. Greetings Council of Ministers, the General Council of the BSFSh, and other dignitaries were conveyed ... (ATSH) ... of the Party, comrade Abdyl Baca, Greetings other dignitaries were conveyed ...

Work on the construction of irrigation canals in the olive groves of the Lushnjë NBS. (Photo: G. Xhengo - ATSH)