By DASHNOR KALOÇI

The first part

Memorie.al / Sazan Island, surrounded mainly by rocky coastline and clear blue water, as well as Zvërnec with the monastery on the small island, the beach with sand dunes, the forest with tall pine trees and the rich flora and fauna, which constitute a rare natural beauty, have been the headlines of the media and politics for several months, not only in Albania, but also in the international arena (due to a giant tourist project with a complex of villas and resorts that is expected to be built by a foreign company from the USA), it seems that they were not only very well-known places for the picturesque tourist landscape they offered, but also for their underground wealth! Such as gas and oil, otherwise considered "black gold". Among other things, this is also known from an archival document from 1989, which contains the minutes of the meeting of the secretariat of the Central Committee of the Albanian People's Party, led by Ramiz Alia, which was also attended by Lenka Çuko, member of the Political Bureau and secretary of the Central Committee, as well as Besnik Bekteshi, member of the Political Bureau and Minister of Industry, Mining and Energy.

As we will see from the document in question, during the meeting of the secretariat of the Central Committee of the Albanian People's Party (which were actually working coffees that Ramiz Alia held in the Party House with his subordinates, members of the Bureau and the secretaries of the Central Committee, which were recorded and transcribed), the Minister of Industry, Mines and Energy, Besnik Bekteshi, (considered one of the most prepared and professional people the Albanian government had at that time), after giving a long summary of his visit to the Tropoja district, speaking mainly about the mineral wealth that that area had in the north-east of the country, he also stopped and spoke about all the problems of the sectors covered by the department he headed, such as; oil, gas, chrome, copper, coal, iron, energy, etc., in all districts of the country, from north to south.

Likewise, during that conversation, Minister Bekteshi (who paradoxically had long been followed and surveilled by the State Security, as a possible agent of the Bulgarian Secret Services, where he had graduated), also focused at length on foreign companies such as West German, Romanian, etc., that had offered to explore for oil and gas in our country, mainly on the coast of Zvërnec and the island of Sazan, where the first wells had been opened to explore for oil that was thought to be in the depths of the sea.

In addition to Minister Bekteshi's presentation, during that working meeting, Ramiz Alia informed them (Bekteshi and Lenka Çukos, who surprisingly speaks with great competence also about mining problems), regarding the meeting and conversations he had had in those days in Tirana with João Amazonas, (the chairman of the Marxist-Leninist party of Brazil), with whom he had been advised on the problems of foreign companies that had offered to explore for oil and other mineral resources in our country. Regarding this, etc., we are familiar with the document in question that was recently extracted from the Central State Archive (the fund of the former Central Committee of the Albanian People's Party), which is published for the first time by Memorie.al.

MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE SECRETARIAT OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE ALPSH DATED 6.VI.1989, HEADED BY RAMIZ ALIA, WHERE LENKA ÇUKO AND BENSIK BEKTESHI ALSO PARTICIPATED

COLLECTION

OF THE COMMENDED SECRETARIES OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE PARTY

On June 6, 1989

At this meeting, discussions were held on new discoveries in chrome; on the development of the conference of the Democratic Front of the Tropoja district; on communist militancy; on the better concretization of tasks and on the problem of the mechanism of work and remuneration; on the progress of work in the oil and other mineral sectors; on the issue of risky firms; on the versatility of the working method in the Ministry of Foreign Trade, on some problems that the development of our country itself raises and on various other problems.

The meeting is chaired by Comrade Ramiz Alia, First Secretary of the Party Central Committee. Participating in this meeting are Comrade Lenka Çuko, member of the Politburo and Secretary of the Central Committee; and Comrade Besnik Bekteshi, member of the Politburo and Minister of Industry, Mines and Energy.

COMRADE BESNIK BEKTESHI: In the Tropoja district, employees were mobilized to carry out the assigned tasks. Great mobilization was seen especially among the geology employees, those of the exploration company. For the Shkelzen area, it remains a task to present and concretize the thoughts and issues that have emerged about the geological reserves hidden in this area.

I think there will be no worrying problems here. During my visit to this district, I met with mining brigades, geologists and cadres. I spoke in general about the decisions of the Politburo in terms of utilizing our mining capacities and improving the working conditions and salaries of employees in this sector.

In the Tropoja district, comrade Ramiz, it is necessary to expand the exploration and then the exploitation of chromium ore. In Qafë Krollai, the probe has found chromium ore, also in Tëplan, the probe has found chromium ore, but this one is of good quality, over 36 percent. Even the mountainside, where this mineral was discovered, creates the image of Pojska.

Geological research in this area had begun in 1957 and no trace of the mineral had been discovered, while a year ago, with the new equipment we received for surface geophysics, geologists found the trace. The equipment showed changes, so something was hidden underground. Drilling was repeated and both probes working in the Teplan area have opened up chromium-rich samples in four points.

It has been 30 years since the first explorations in this area, but now we have discovered the mineral. Even then, drilling was done, but when they fell into supernormal pressures, they stopped drilling, they stopped searching. I think, comrade Ramiz, that Tropoja and Kukësi, considering their mineral reserves, can no longer be left at the mercy of a relative plan or a plan that the district itself can draw up.

If a few days ago we discussed the coal mine in Memaliaj, to expand it, I think that for these chrome-bearing areas, which I mentioned, we should gain time, by carrying out works to open roads, to open galleries, even some capital works, because it is a fairly large chrome mineral reserve. We as the ministry will have it at the center of attention, but this should be reflected in the perspective plan, such as the 1990s or especially the next five-year plan.

In the Wallachia area, the mineral-bearing layer reaches up to 3 million tons of chromium. Now I would like to say a few words about the work in general in our Ministry. The meeting of the Politburo was a great experience for all of us and set us concrete tasks. Now we are all fighting to realize these tasks on all fronts.

We have also well grasped the problem of special treatment in mines or geological centers in terms of implementing the plan. Also in terms of further improving working conditions, quite good work is being done. Often, the funds intended for improving working conditions have been wasted.

During my stay in the Tropoja district, I also visited agricultural cooperatives. I was in the agricultural cooperative of Teplan. There used to be a swamp here, but it had already dried up, fertile land had been acquired, about 100 hectares, systematized and drainage had been done. Wheat and corn had been planted in the former swamp. All the indicators in this cooperative were good.

The leading members of this cooperative had several requests addressed to the Ministry of Agriculture, which would double the yields. The Tropojë residents had named the benefited field of Tëplan “Little Myzeqe of Tropojë”. The livestock sector was also performing well. Fertility was good, as was the number of heads of livestock.

Even in Tropoja, as everywhere in our country, the results of the clusters and nuts were being seen for days and more. We spoke specifically about this problem with several brigades. After the conference of the district democratic front, where I participated as a delegate in a village, the inauguration of the water supply took place.

People were crying with joy. Some elders told me that they had been coming from Lekbibaj to this village for 25 years, but water is a big deal. In this village I also visited some villagers' houses. The houses were good, furnished, and in good economic condition. The shops were stocked.

This year, greenhouses have been built in Tropoja and the people of Tropoja will be supplied with tomatoes and cucumbers from these greenhouses. Milk and cheese were sold in stores without a price tag. Before May 15, they could not meet the demand of the district's population for dairy by-products, so they also bought from other districts. After May 15, they cut off supplies from other districts.

The moral and political situation of the Tropoja district was very good, and therefore the elections for the leadership of the district's democratic front and the elections of delegates to the congress went very well. I was very impressed that at the district conference both the report and the discussions were prepared with a level of political maturity.

In addition to the positive aspects and successes that were highlighted at the conference, there was also criticism. This shows the healthy moral and political situation of the district. Ibrahim Dautin was elected chairman of the Democratic Front of the district. Previously, he was the secretary of the Party bureau in several agricultural cooperatives and recently the editor-in-chief of the newspaper “Shkëlzeni”.

We once discussed electing Mehmet Rama as chairman, but he had become very ill and his powers had left him. We also started from the logic of the general orientation that there was a secretary of the Party committee. They spoke very well of the newly elected chairman, Ibrahim. They left Mehmet Rama as vice-chairman of the Democratic Front of the district.

In the Tropoja district, both in agricultural economies and in economic enterprises, people were mobilized to carry out their tasks. Enterprises in Tropoja had taken the initiative to help the villages in establishing nurseries and kindergartens. This initiative reduced the investment fund and helped the village to establish kindergartens and kindergartens as soon as possible.

The people of Tropoja had a desire and left me a message to convey to you, comrade Ramiz, that you pay a visit to this district. We will invite comrade Ramiz ourselves, they told me, but you should convey our desire to him. We, they said, will multiply our forces and will accomplish the tasks assigned to us by the Party, so that we can welcome comrade Ramiz with open arms and with good results.

COMRADE RAMIZ ALIA: As you know, the Tirana district has taken the initiative to increase economic efficiency. Wouldn't it be right to use 20 percent of the additional income to improve the living conditions of workers, and save the funds intended for expanded reproduction? I think so. At the current stage of the country's socialist development, as we also said at the last meeting of the Secretariat of the Central Committee, the Party organizations as well as the mass organizations must grapple with key problems.

The leadership of the Party at all levels is not done with words, but with concrete action. Is this how the entire Party acts? I say no. I am arguing my opinion. In the newspaper “Tirana” there was an article about the clusters. The bureau of the district Party committee, it was said, among other things, after examining the problems related to the development of the clusters, directed the grassroots organizations on how to act in order to achieve good results.

After this, the Party bureaus of the agricultural cooperatives gathered and determined the ways and measures that needed to be taken for the work with the clusters. This is a very general discussion. To be specific, I would say that the basic organization of the Party, based on the Party directive for the development and consolidation of the clusters, should assign more specific tasks to the communists. But even this, in my opinion, is not complete.

The grassroots organization should ask the communists to give an account of the performance of their duties to it and to the masses within a certain period. In this way, the grassroots organization of the Party should exercise control over the implementation of the duties. In order for the work to go well in the grassroots organization of the Party, there should be debate, the results should be documented, but the causes of non-achievements should not be covered up.

The better the obstacles and difficulties are highlighted, the greater the struggle for their elimination. If the grassroots organization does not nurture this militant spirit in the communists, the Party organizations will atrophy and the tasks will remain on paper. For the realization of the tasks, the persistence of the grassroots organization, the militancy of the communists, is important.

The basic organization of the Party must make it clear to every communist that his or her existence in the Party depends on the fulfillment of the task assigned to him or her. The communist who fulfills his or her duty is to be praised, while the one who neglects it does not deserve to be in the ranks of the Party. Communist militancy outside of work and without accountability for duty does not and cannot exist. A communist is one who fulfills the task assigned to him or her and helps his or her comrades to overcome difficulties in order to move forward.

If this spirit exists among the communists, it means that the leadership of the basic organization of the Party is collegial. Better concretization of tasks increases the personal responsibility of the communist and strengthens control. Party control, which differs from that carried out by the organs of power, must be concrete. Every communist is accountable for the task assigned to him before the basic organization. In the organs of power it is different.

That employee (whether this is a manager, specialist or simple worker) who does not fulfill the duty that has the character of an order, or a normative rule with legal force, is liable up to criminal liability. There are other norms in the Party. The basic organization of the Party holds communists accountable as militants. Every communist must understand militancy well, this is the main call that the Party is currently making.

Militancy will encourage the communist to work and fight, to be in the vanguard. The tasks that the Party sets in the economic plan are at the same time the tasks of the government, they have a double value. The realization of the plan is a task and then the responsibility of the worker, of the communist is even greater and in this case the implementation of the tasks takes on a legal character.

COMRADE BESNIK BEKTESHI: Right after the Politburo meeting on the problems of mineral reserves and especially oil, we responsibly assigned people and communists to work on these fronts in order to ensure that the decision taken is implemented in the best possible way. We have not limited this issue to the chrome sector.

We also have ideas for improving the organization of work and defining specific competencies. One of the ways to encourage work and increase productivity and production is to improve the form of remuneration.

In the chrome sector, the new form of remuneration has yielded results and encourages and stimulates the miner not only in increasing the quantity of chrome extraction, but also in terms of the quality of the mineral. For the extraction of rich chrome, other forms of remuneration have been used, which are more organized. The opinion that I will express here, which I also expressed in a Government meeting, is related to the 90 percent of the salary of the cadres. Memorie.al