- Privatization lacks transparency, legality, fairness, security... - Everything looks like a game in which, in the absence of preparation and clear plans, the winner is whoever has the billbil and a few cards in their pocket. Such a game, whose only finish line will be the elections, did not in fact begin now, but three years ago, when a government decision was made to privatize small and medium-sized enterprises. The fate of these enterprises’ privatization is well known. So are the people who took possession of them. Now, as the government’s term draws to a close, the privatization of large enterprises is to take place, otherwise called Mass General Privatization (PPM), through privatization vouchers, by which Albanians will become owners, as the propaganda of the political force currently in control of power puts it. Indeed, ATSH itself stated in its newspaper the day after the parliamentary majority approved the president’s decree «On the issuance and distribution of privatization vouchers» that «The dawn of this day found more than 1 million Albanians wealthy.» That is rather hard to believe. Privatization through privatization vouchers has been left to the people of the government’s final six-month period—precisely its last six months. It is hard to see how this delayed operation could thin the viscous mass flowing through the state’s veins. First it was said that 800,000 Albanians would benefit from privatization through vouchers, then 1 million Albanians. It is very difficult to arrive at an exact figure, as though Albania’s population were to exceed even that of Tokyo, with over 10 million inhabitants. Ironically, the state tries to convince people that it has accurate records even of the yield of the majdanzoit grown by farmers and the number of small livestock that eat leaves, recording them from agjri. There are strange paradoxes in this country. [Text begins mid-sentence:] ...national. The question arises: what has been done with the remaining two-thirds of the national wealth? Meanwhile, the current voucher phase has been named Mass General Privatization. Given the above proportions in the distribution of national wealth, can this be called Mass General Privatization? If this is called mass privatization, then what was the privatization carried out so far? People are being offered privatization vouchers, and even their form has been shown through visual media, but the wider public still does not know what is to be privatized. Which enterprises will «flourish» through the vouchers? At the very least, the list of enterprises that will undergo this operation should have been published, not to mention their economic indicators. But it seems that surprise is the best means of achieving the goal. In the absence of further information, people have begun thinking about buying sofas, food, and other everyday necessities. If the opposition political forces have objected to the way the national wealth is being handled, this is not because they oppose privatizing the economy or one of the methods used for it, such as privatization vouchers. The use of privatization vouchers is, in fact, extremely late. They are being put on the market when most of the national wealth—and specifically the most profitable part—has fallen victim to government decisions and political privatization boards, without going through parliament. In addition, privatization so far has served admirably to transfer ownership to certain individuals, most of them endowed with power or serving those in power in the most blind and servile manner. The protests, petitions and public complaints of thousands of workers’ collectives... Albanians, at an exact figure—as if Albania might surpass Tokyo, with its population of over 10 million. accurate records even of the yield of the managon grown by the farmer and the number of small livestock that eat leaves, registering them from the herd. There are strange paradoxes in this country. It has been said that all state enterprises, numbering 1,200, would be privatized through vouchers. That seemed credible because the technicians of the current government who have been and are working on economic reform have declared that nothing state-owned will remain in this country, even though in the developed industrial countries of the West around 30 percent of property is public. Then it was said that 800 enterprises would be privatized through vouchers, while someone else said that 400 such enterprises would have the fate of changing owners. It seems that many things have not been properly coordinated. Even these points are enough to understand what is being done with the remaining national wealth and what its fate will be. It is no coincidence that it has been said that in Albania many things are done backwards. Before the president’s decree was approved by parliament, the government had already issued, acted upon, and tied up the privatization vouchers. In other words, the government acted before the decree was approved. There is no legal logic that can accept this, but, as we know, in Albania political logic comes before legal logic. How should the government’s decisions be regarded? It is clear that everything had been prepared in advance. The decree’s approval in parliament by the majority, which also controls the government, was considered a foregone conclusion, and in fact it happened just as expected. Let it be said as it is, just as it did in fact happen unexpectedly. Let the opposition say whatever it likes, let it present as many alternatives as it wants. The economists among its experts should not be allowed to “take the helm” in a gale! The representative of the ruling party, though currently without a government mandate, declared the night before last in a televised debate that one third of the national wealth would be distributed to Albanians through privatization vouchers, while the greater part of the national wealth—precisely the most profitable part—fell victim to decisions by various political privatization bodies and boards, without going through parliament. In addition, privatization to date has served very well to transfer ownership to certain individuals, most of them vested of many workers’ collectives were “worn down” by state deafness. After this long “odyssey” of give and take, it was decided that the part still not privatized—most of which has been destroyed because of the state’s policy of “abononim”—would be distributed through vouchers. Under these conditions, the General Mass Privatization (VOUCHERS) is happening like a coffin after the harvest. Acting in this way—that is, without finding a secure solution for investing the Vouchers issued by the government—the ordinary person will go down to the market to exchange them, to get them out of their hands as quickly as possible. The motto, “I’ll take whatever I can, because tomorrow no one knows what the exchange rate will be,” will become widespread. The exchange rate for vouchers will seriously compete with that for foreign currencies. The currency exchange rates, a useful regular feature on the pages of the press, will henceforth be accompanied by the voucher exchange rate. Whether they want to or not, 800 thousand or 1 million Albanians will become money changers. There is no longer any need to look at what happened in other countries to understand the uncertainty surrounding the preservation of the value of privatization vouchers. The concrete experience of the securities distributed to former political prisoners is clear. The value of the securities with which the government endowed them a year ago has undergone a drastic fall of as much as 40 or even 50 percent. Despite the calls of bankers, people will find it very difficult to hold on to the privatization vouchers. This happens when the privatization vouchers have no material, real, effective equivalent. DEDE KOLA

Around 60–70 percent of Tirana’s households will receive water only once every 24 hours this summer More than 2000 kiosks and hundreds of families who have come from the districts are taking water illegally Restructuring of the internal network has not yet begun, even though the President cut the ribbon marking the start of the works - Around 60–70 percent of Tirana’s households will receive water only once every 24 hours this summer - More than 2000 kiosks and hundreds of families who have come from the districts are taking water illegally - Restructuring of the internal network has not yet begun, even though the President cut the ribbon marking the start of the works Although Tirana is seeing out the winter amid continuing concerns over shortages of drinking water, signals from the Water Supply Enterprise indicate that the summer season will be much worse. If until now the water has come regularly, at least once every 24 hours, during the hot months ahead around 30 percent of Tirana’s households will face continuous shortages. Only 60–70 percent of them—the more privileged—will receive water just once every 24 hours. The situation is truly alarming. The exact measures taken by government officials and those of the Capital Municipality to address the circumstances that have arisen amount to nothing but words—nothing but words within all the propaganda that the PD makes about its supposed dedication to this highly delicate matter in people’s lives. It must be said that at present there is no oversight or forward-looking work to offer even a glimmer of hope. The only alternative is for citizens themselves to prepare by keeping buckets, tubs, barrels and anything else available on hand to cope with what they call a «water crisis». The fact that the Tirana Municipality has no authority of any kind and no responsibility toward its own citizens has, as with everything else, also brought about unimaginable disorder in the water shortage. It has not been and is not able to regulate existing capacity, thus being chiefly responsible for the situations that have arisen and those expected to arise. At present, more than 20000 kiosks are taking drinking water entirely illegally, just as they have been built illegally. They, along with dozens and hundreds of families concentrated on the outskirts of Tirana, mean that the two water-supply systems, Laknas and Berxhill (with over 260 liters per second), are sending nothing to the reservoirs and pumping stations in Kinostudio and the Student City. The loss is just as great at the Bovilla sources, where the 400 liters per second flowing at this time of year are expected to fall to 150 liters. It has been said that an Italian firm is working on the internal network and has made 13 billion lire available, a considerable sum for putting things right. Work has not yet begun. Perhaps one day it will be able to start, but what is Tirana supposed to do until that «blessed day» arrives in June and July, at the peak of demand for water? According to estimates, this summer there will be two to three hundred liters per second less water. If the thousands of cases of people taking water without the Municipality authorities’ permission are also included in this calculation, the situation will be catastrophic in scale. What can the PD Municipality do about what has already begun and is expected to get worse with drinking water? The initiative of the senior officials to build a reservoir near their homes and install water pumps themselves suggests a bleak and hopeless outlook. This is reinforced by the other fact that nothing is being done with the money provided to restructure the internal network, even though the President cut the ribbon to mark the start of the works. BASHKIM KOÇI

DURRES The second day of the district’s second FRESSH Conference was held. The conference presented an overview of the forum’s activities over the past three years. Among the speakers, P. Majko gave an important greeting, congratulating the forum on its good work and on the growth of its political maturity. «The FRESSH youth movement, N. Legisi, among other things, emphasized

DURRËS According to sources close to the Durrës prosecution office, late last night, after midnight, a powerful explosion occurred in the state customs offices near the seaport. Preliminary investigations indicate that the explosion resulted from explosive materials being placed in the customs offices; this is the second time they have been targeted for destruction by people who have not yet been identified. But it seems these attacks on the customs service were intended to damage and destroy the institution’s financial records. People consulted at the institution, people consulted at the institution, say that these financial records concern the recording of tax transactions for various goods brought into Albania. A sinister hand is seeking to eliminate this documentation so that there will be no trace in the future. The prosecution authorities are continuing their investigations. ANDI DAKOLI

A few days ago, at the headquarters of the governing committee of the Socialist Party, members of the Socialist Party’s legal commission, accompanied by department heads Fehmi Abdiu, Bashkim Caka and Spartak Braho, met with official representatives of the Supreme Court of Denmark, led by Mr. Hans Henrick Brydensholt, among others. At the meeting, views were exchanged on Albanian legislation, particularly criminal law and local government, among other matters. The idea proposed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark to establish a foundation to help set up and organize associations and centers in Albania for the prevention of civil and criminal conflicts was considered particularly interesting. Correspondent of «Zëri i popullit»

1000 driving licenses issued outside the rules — Reliable sources speak of major corruption — Although driving-school activity in Korçë has been suspended for four months as a result of disagreements between the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Transport, a rather interesting fact has nonetheless been observed: various citizens are being issued driving licenses. This was discovered in a recent inspection by the Ministry of the Interior, which found that in just the past four months around 1,000 people had been issued licenses in various categories. Reliable sources for this information report that the licenses issued originated from the Ministry of the Interior and that this involved large-scale corruption. MUHARREM MEKO

Artists Violeta Manushi, Margarita Xhepa, and Drita Agolli also took part — — part — On this day, the FGSSH leadership organized a cocktail reception with creators in the fields of art and culture at the “Berlini” restaurant in Tirana. Writers, poets, singers, artists from the National Theatre, directors, and others were in attendance. The purpose of this meeting was to discuss creating a broader environment for creative forces to participate in the activities of the Socialist Women’s Forum, as well as those organized by all Albanian women’s associations within the framework of International Women’s Year. The meeting was opened by FGSSH chair Merita Ndreko, who, after conveying the forum’s women’s thanks and respect to the artists, writers, all performers, and creators for their contribution to Albanian art and culture, invited the participants to discuss the various forms and activities that could (Continued on page 4)

The second conference of the district FRESSH held its proceedings on Sunday. the past three years. Speakers who took the floor devoted considerable attention to strengthening the ranks of the forum. It was emphasized that FRESSH is the most important supporter of the SP’s program to lead the country out of its current situation of lack of production, unemployment, and people’s spiritual crisis. Diversity of opinion was described as the alpha of democracy in a modern party such as the SP and a political children’s forum such as FRESSH. The district’s political youth forum chairs were invited to speak at the conference (some of whom were present), in order to cooperate so that hope for life might be rekindled among the young people of Durrës, and so that this youth would not become a “generation of experimentation,” nor be listed in literary and historical anthologies tomorrow as a “lost generation.” On behalf of the FRESSH leadership, P. Majko delivered greetings and praised the forum’s good work as well as its growing political maturity. Among other things, N. Legisi, a member of the FRESSH leadership, emphasized the SP’s great efforts to create genuine opportunities for young eurosocialists, so that they could find ways to express their intellectual abilities. The support of FRESSH’s leader, SP leader Fatos Nano, has been of great importance in creating these opportunities. This is one of the main reasons he is closely connected with the eurosocialists, despite his conditions of isolation. At the end of the proceedings, the conference adopted a resolution addressing several issues, including a request for the release of the SP chair, F. Nano; the need to crack down on manifestations of corruption; and support for the government’s demand for early elections, etc. MIRELA NDINI

BRIEFLY FROM THE COUNTRY Sixty families from the village of Rreth - Tale, in the Muhur municipality of Dibër, protested these days before the prefect of Dibër over the failure to resolve a dispute that arose over the division of the former Zdojan fruit-growing block between this village and the village of Brezhdan. The resolution continues to be dragged out, giving rise to the total destruction of the orchard.

A village, Kardhiq in Gjirokastër, is suffering over just 100 thousand lekë needed to complete the new investment in the water-supply system. Meanwhile, another investment is leaking. It is the reservoir built for this same village, which has now filled up. Could it be that these investments are “leaking” because they have to do with water?!

The professional variety theatre of the city of Peshkopi opened this year’s season with the premiere entitled “Ti bani me shëndet”. In this show, directed by Inat Shehu, and featuring Lefko Popa, freshness was brought by the young musicians Irfan Vani and Islam Vani, the instrumentalists Gani Shehu and Shpendi Markja, the young singers Jonida and Sonja, the comedian Behar Mera, and others. With the sharp edge of artistic expression, the writers and actors had targeted theft, corruption, and other ills that, as throughout the country, are also a feature of the times in Dibër.

Meeting with creators - Artists Violeta Manushi, Margarita Xhepa, and Drita Agolli also took part -