Livestock is an economic sector in which nature has a powerful influence, both for better and for worse. All the more so when this is accompanied by people’s negligence toward animals: together, these deal severe blows that bring livestock farming to the brink of destruction and hunger. The drought did its work and created all the problems we know about, but the bad thing is that this factor is becoming decisive in people’s thinking, because it is being used everywhere and indiscriminately as the reason above all other reasons, thus creating pessimism among people and, why not, even fatalism. The situation of livestock farming in Albania today, in terms of the collective herds, is gloomy and anaemic, with minimal production; if things continue this way, it is hard to know what state it will end up in. Here are some figures for January: the plan for production and delivery of meat, milk and eggs was fulfilled at around 78 percent, even though it is the lowest plan in terms of cow yields for this period. Compared with January 1990, our production supplied the urban population and the residents of industrial centres with around 35 percent less milk and eggs. These figures therefore mean thousands of tonnes of milk and millions of eggs less. The deficits will deepen even further if the period is not shortened—and perhaps even in April–June. Nor can the figures be compared with the same period in previous years, or with 15–20 years ago. Yields, especially cow’s milk, have fallen from year to year, while genetic improvement has increased. One more fact: livestock-producing districts such as Lushnja and Fieri are producing roughly half the amount of milk they produced in January last year; the districts of Durrës, Korçë and Shkodër are producing 30–40 percent less, while in mountain districts such as Puka, Mati and Mirdita, the grazing period in the lowlands lasts another 60 days, and in the highlands around 90 days. We must have no illusions that we will improve the situation of livestock farming quickly, since this is the continuation of a longstanding trend. But anyone can ask: What can we do? Are there ways and means to reduce and minimise the consequences? In my opinion, we must bear in mind two issues that will ease this difficult situation: analysing the causes that brought us to this state—not to return to the past and lament it, but to take measures so that such a situation does not recur—and an extraordinary mobilisation, as in wartime, to save livestock farming. When I speak of mobilisation, I do not mean the slogans that have been used constantly, nor the meetings and empty words characteristic of bureaucracy, nor demands for concentrates and imports. I mean the opposite: each person doing their duty and, indeed, taking responsibility for the destruction. Today livestock farming does not need grand science or classical experiments, but people to live alongside the animals in the stall, as the farmer does with his own livestock; to close doors and windows so that the temperature rises even a little; to heat the places where the young animals are raised wherever possible; to eliminate dampness completely; and to keep smaller groups of small livestock so as to make use of every possible source of feed. Let us not forget that ruminants in particular consume and digest thorns, fallen forest leaves, pine needles, the leaves of the strawberry tree, and… anything with even a little nutritional value. Where there are few cows, especially in the highlands, they should temporarily be given to families to save them. Most officials remain silent, even though they are communists; the local authorities have left the matter in the hands of the grassroots. Silence once again means a lack of responsibility for collective livestock farming. And the Ministry of Agriculture? I want to say what I genuinely feel: it is not at all fulfilling its role. There, they are more concerned with foreign relations than with agricultural problems. The offices of the foreign-relations directorate are crowded with people concerned about problems with the outside world; this concern is of interest because the suitcases full of tempting goods arrive. At Eksimagro they are not thinking about exports, about earning foreign currency, but about imports—how to spend even the little foreign currency we have. One could think one was in the Ministry of Foreign Trade, not the Ministry of Agriculture. Meetings are held to buy sheep from abroad, while we forget that even the ones we have are dying. Chickens are bought and foreign currency is spent, but we cull twice as many chickens from the complexes, and yet there are no eggs. Enough talk. Today is the time to save livestock farming. MARK NOGA year has been declining as genetic improvement increases. Another fact: districts with strong livestock sectors, such as Lushnja and Fieri, produce approximately half the quantity of milk they produced in January last year; in the districts of Durrës, Korçë and Shkodër, production is 30–40 percent lower, while the mountain districts with concentrated herds, such as Puka, Mati, Mirdita, Kukësi and Gramshi, deliver only 10–15 kg of milk each day. Other figures could also be cited for production, livestock numbers and infertility in collective herds, but they are of no value, because—surprising as it may seem—all twenty-six districts of the country produce and deliver less milk than last year, and the shortfall is around 40,000 quintals. Seventeen districts produce and deliver fewer eggs, so the overwhelming majority of agricultural enterprises have been affected by the “illness” of declining production. We want the weather to improve, but no one can turn winter into summer. Be that as it may, fo- possible food supply. digest thorns, fallen leaves from the forest, pine needles, leaves of the manna ash, and… anything at all that has especially in the mountains, they should temporarily be entrusted to families to save them. Today most agricultural enterprises have few food reserves; the hay and silage are running out, because when it was time to collect them nobody cared, the concentrate-feed depots are empty, and even the livestock complexes are not only buying millions of dollars’ worth of scarce protein feed, but are also eagerly awaiting the maize, which will cross oceans and seas to reach Albania. So what should we do? Differentiate the animals’ diets; use straw only as feed, while for bedding use sawdust, leaves, fern, dried peat and anything else that provides warmth. Without mea-

Even now I regret that I did not take notes on the speech of that worker from the electric wire factory in Shkodër who stood up to speak in the «Skënderbeg» neighbourhood, while candidates for deputies to the People’s Assembly were being put forward. I regret it because many others would have got to know him better, too. What did he say? «The factory where I work, and also the district, allocated me an apartment with two rooms and a kitchen. That was six months ago, but I still have not moved into the house. Another family has unlawfully moved into my place, without the relevant authorisation, and refuses to leave. So far I have gone 18 times to the Executive Committee of the district People’s Council. I have met all its officials. They have all told me that my problem would be resolved tomorrow, but in fact it still has not been resolved. I am not saying this at the neighbourhood meeting to put pressure on anyone; I think that delays discourage people and open the way to bad things. I do not blame the Party for my trouble. I blame the person who has the power to resolve it and does not.» Perhaps I shortened something in his speech, but he spoke for less than a minute. Yet he said everything he had to say—not only about his own problem and the worry borne by an entire family, but also about something broader and more important. He spoke both about unjustified delays and about administrators’ handling of the people’s problems. The point was not that a new decision had to be made, but simply that an existing decision had to be implemented, and such a delay is truly unjust. But if another decision, another matter, another official, and another person responsible by name were involved, would there be delays like these? Certainly not. Yet before the law we are all equal: the worker like me and the official like you. Indeed, it has always been said that I, the worker, come first. But what also impressed me was his final remark: «I do not blame the Party for my trouble.» He distinguished the Party, which put the interests of the people above everything, from certain individuals who have nothing in common with it—even if they carry a membership card in their pocket. The Party’s good work must not be confused with the wrongful conduct of certain people. Why do we say this? Lately there have been people speaking ill and behind the Party of Labour’s back. They target everything they think or hear about: the good and the mistakes, the good and the corrupt. They criticise not only what has been done, but also everyone who says, «I am a communist.» An allergy that can be explained only by the forces of revanche, by the anger some have accumulated over the years and their belief that now is the time to benefit. There are quite a few socialists around them, too, whose views may perhaps deserve consideration. But the swell gradually subsides, the storm eventually runs out of steam, and words remain words. Have communists not been the first to go to every task? Is their motto not «first in sacrifices and last in demands»? It is true that there are still communists who are first in their demands, who think more of themselves than anything else, and who regard the privileges around them as legitimate rights. Such people have linked their place in the Party of Labour to material conditions and personal property, and we are convinced that whichever political party they belong to tomorrow, their ideal of themselves and for themselves alone will not change. The first to raise their voices against such privileges have been and remain the communists. Tell me another truth; show me a workplace where the communists are not present. But what is happening? At a time when, more than anything, we need sincere dialogue, mobilisation and efforts to overcome difficulties, some people can hardly wait for a problem to arise so they can blame the communists. They are thirsting for this to the point of exhaustion. Let anything happen and the guns are turned on the Party of Labour. A timekeeper at the Wood Processing Combine causes problems for a department full of workers, and dozens blame the Party of Labour. The concern grows, but there is also a hand behind it, pulling the strings. «Look,» they say, «the decision to pay workers 80 qindarka when work is interrupted through no fault of theirs is just for show. Just to get through the day.» A few examples. At the [unclear] enterprise, there have been complaints. The canning enterprise, too, has needed intervention from higher up, from the state. Then they start expressing regret, as if our people are suffering more there. After that, they lie in wait for another opening, another different stance. A supplier is late in doing his job, but they say «the entire administration» is to blame and, after that, of course, the Party of Labour. One person starts, then another carries it further, «let him have his say». It is already clear what they are aiming at, but we have no reason to leave the gates open or to open them with exceptions on our side. Let everyone bear their own responsibility. If we treated one person’s actions as the actions of an entire party, would we not be entitled to make dangerous and undesirable analogies as well? Could someone not say that the youths who break windows while holding up two fingers are acting on behalf of the Democratic Party? There is no reason to say so, even though they shout for it. Can the whole be blamed for one unit? But let us return to the «Hercules» mentioned at the beginning of this article. The worker we spoke about could have blamed an entire Party Committee for not dealing with his problem. He could have done so, since he had gone 18 times to the government bodies and the Party supervised all their activity. But he did not, because he knew that the guilty person had a name. There was also a way to resolve it. He blamed that person and showed the way to a solution. Would it not be better to follow precisely this path to a solution, which we need so much today?

ELBASAN — January is over; how will we get through February? BERAT — The concern of the day: maintaining a steady rhythm ELBASAN January is over; how will we get through February? This is a question everyone is asking in enterprises, cooperatives, and even in our families. The shortfalls and shortages in Elbasan during January were not minor. It is enough to mention that only a few enterprises—the brick factory, the canning enterprise, the oil-and-drink enterprise, the NPA, the food-industry mechanical plant, the carpet enterprise, and the village NRSH—fulfilled their plans. The other enterprises, important not only for Elbasan but for the whole country, such as the metallurgical and energy combine, the ferrochrome plant, the cement factory, the wood combine, and others, accumulated considerable deficits. The reasons for the shortfalls are clear. They resulted as much from a lack of raw materials as from slackness. The question now is how work will proceed in February and beyond, and even whether the deficits that have accumulated can be made up. It is difficult to answer this when the Industry Section reports that few enterprises are meeting their plans in the first days of February. In any case, some enterprises, although no one admits to falling short, are more justified because they work with imported raw materials. But the shortage of firewood in this cold winter cannot be justified. Dozens of people leave work and wait at the wood yard until a truckload arrives from the forests. There is not even time to cut the wood; it goes straight from the forest to people’s homes. Where are the reserves of firewood? This question can no longer be asked when a cubic metre of wood is rationed like scarce water and the only thing left to citizens is to [unclear]. Everyone knows the situation, but apparently the district leaders’ incompetence cannot find a solution; no one seems able to determine who is really responsible, and no one has a «thorn» in their foot. Complaints about tyres and fuel no longer hold, because those have been available. So what excuse will be found? What is preventing people from being left without heating? And what excuse will be found for the state of the market, especially for vegetables? Are we waiting for them to be imported too, when Elbasan is renowned for producing them and has even supplied other districts? Cabbage has been absent from the market for several days; there is no question of finding dry onions, and, strangely, even…

BERAT As we talk with several managers of enterprises that fulfilled their January tasks in the district of Berat, such as the food enterprise, the oil-extraction enterprise in Kuçovë, the exploration drilling enterprise, the municipal housing enterprise, and others, we find that they share a concern: how to maintain the momentum of these achievements through stability, finding effective ways to give their maximum, ensuring work fronts, and so on. Shkëlqim Kuçova, head of the planning department at the food enterprise, tells us: «We finished January well. We fulfilled the industrial production plan by 106 percent, while sales exceeded the plan by 2.2 million lekë. We produced more than planned: 10 tonnes of marinated [unclear] for export, 112 hectolitres of alcoholic beverages, oil, biscuits, and so on; export sales also exceeded the target by tens of thousands of lekë. During the past month we had problems securing milk from Memaliaj; only 60 percent of the required amount arrived, which had a negative effect on the production plan. An analysis of our monthly work, which we carried out in recent days, also brought to light several concerns that could put the plan in doubt if they are not resolved in time. For example, on the part of the sections of the Executive Committee…»

At its meeting on 1 February 1991, the Council of Ministers approved a decision on customs, intended to bring our customs authorities to the level of a fully developed, modern operation under the conditions of implementing economic reform and expanding economic relations with foreign countries, and also to facilitate matters for citizens bringing in personal effects and goods. The decision directs the customs authorities, in their activities, to apply the fiscal system in our country, particularly with regard to export and import goods, carrying out this task where such goods are produced and used. The decision on customs specifies the categories of personal effects and goods that are prohibited from entering or leaving the country: weapons and their ammunition, explosives, poisonous substances, narcotics, radioactive materials, etc. Likewise, under the decision, the customs authorities prohibit the export from Albania of precious metals and objects, foreign currency (except amounts needed for personal use), securities, postage stamps, items and objects of particular cultural, historical and artistic value, etc. The export of documents, manuscripts, valuable books, publications and works of art that constitute the national cultural heritage is also prohibited. The decision stipulates that every natural person crossing the state border… It is prohibited to bring into or take out of the country a firearm and its the decision, and objects, foreign currency (except what is needed for personal use), securities, postage stamps, and objects and items of particular cultural, historical and artistic value, etc. Meanwhile, the removal from the country of documents relating to works, national cultural heritage is state border

Yesterday, Fatos Nano, Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the People’s Socialist Republic of Albania, and Muhamet Kapllani, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, returned to the Homeland. They had held talks with Klaus Schwab, President of the World Economic Forum, and taken part in this year’s session in Davos, Switzerland. At Rinas Airport, the government delegation was welcomed by Shkëlqim Cani, Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers, and other comrades. (ATSH)

The delegation of the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU), headed by the federation’s General Secretary, Aleksandër Zharikov, and consisting of Zhan Fransua Kurb, head of the Secretariat of the Commission for Europe, and Anemarie Hussein, secretary at the General Secretariat of this centre, left our country. At the invitation of the General Council of the BPSH, it had made a friendly working visit. The delegation was seen off at the airport by Sotir KocoIlari, President of the General Council of the BPSH, and other comrades. *** During its stay, the delegation of the World Federation of Trade Unions, headed by its General Secretary, Aleksandër Zharikov, was received by the General Council of the BPSH and held talks there. During the talks, the parties exchanged experience and views on the activities and current tasks of each organisation, and expressed their readiness to strengthen and expand the ties and cooperation between the BPSH and the WFTU. The Secretariat of the General Council of the BPSH informed the WFTU delegation about the changes that had taken place— (To be continued on page 4)

The chairman of the Italy-Albania Friendship Association, Arturo Foski, paid a friendly visit to our country in recent days. He was received by Jorgo Melica, chairman of the Albanian Committee for Cultural and Friendly Relations with the Outside World. During the meeting, views were exchanged on expanding and increasing the Association’s activities. The chairman of the Association was also received by Sokrat Plaka, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Socialist Republic of Albania, who, after acknowledging the contribution of the Italy-Albania Friendship Association to further strengthening the relations of friendship and cooperation between our two neighboring countries, briefed him on the processes of democratization, as well as on our foreign policy aimed at strengthening our country’s international cooperation and its ever-greater integration into positive European processes, with the preservation of freedom and national independence at their core. He also expressed his conviction that Albanian-Italian relations would develop ever more broadly in various fields. For his part, the Italian guest expressed his satisfaction with the progress made so far in the democratization process in Albania and stressed that the Albanian people are taking steps forward along the path they have chosen themselves, overcoming difficulties with the contribution of all political forces. (ATSH)

Yesterday, the ATSH correspondent inquired with the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs whether there had been any change in the visa-issuing practices of the Italian and Hungarian embassies and other diplomatic missions in Tirana for Albanian citizens travelling abroad privately. The Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs clarifies that there has been no change in the visa-issuing practices. For Albanian citizens wishing to travel abroad privately, visas are issued by the embassies accredited in Tirana in accordance with the existing procedures and rules, which these missions have also made known to our citizens. (ATSH)