From a historic day, into a tragic one
We collected over 1300 signatures for Elton Debreshi candidacy, meanwhile countless accidents, injuries and murders are happening in the mines
The 24th of February was supposed to be a historic day for the miners, Bulqiza, and the whole community of Dibra. Today, after a week-long active period of collecting signatures, we deposited 1350 of them at the Central Electoral Committee for officially registering Elton Debreshi as an independent candidate for the parliament of Albania. It was with bitter grief that while submitting the necessary documents we learned of the death of our fellow miner, friend and brother, Fiqiri Karaj.
Fiqiri was 49 years old and he was the father of three daughters. He had been an active supporter and signatory of our petition for the legal recognition of the Miners’ Status, as well as for the candidacy of Elton supported by the trade union. This death within the dark chromium mine pits — the next in the long line of so many others — is the consequence of the very hard working conditions that the miners have to face on daily basis.
The confrontation with death proves once more the dire and urgent need for the legal recognition of the Miners’ Status. This makes us even more resolute in pushing forward our just cause. We express our deepest condolences to the family and relatives of Fiqiri. We ask the institutions and the authorities involved to shed light on what happened.
For Fiqiri and every other miner who has been a victim of the greed of billionaires, we seek justice!
Another serious event occurred on the 3rd of March in the mine of AlbChrome Ltd. While working in the domestic transport sector, the miner Agron Gjeta was injured in the leg. Due to serious injuries, Agron was transported urgently to the Trauma Hospital in Tirana.
We hope that the accident does not have serious consequences for our friend and we wish him a speedy recovery. On the other hand, we demand serious investigation of the accident and technical safety conditions! This accident at the Albchrome mine is not a rare case, nor an isolated one. Despite propaganda for “extraordinary investments”, AlbChrome has been transformed from a chrome mine into an accident mine.
According to the State Labor Inspectorate, AlbChrome is one of the entities with the most accidents (13) during 2020. Three accidents occurred in this mine only during January 2021, but they were not reported anywhere by the police or other responsible authorities, nor by the media. The so-called trade union of Kol Nikolla and Taf Koleci does not even have a chance to say a word.
AlbChrome investments to increase chromium production are an achievement for the interests of the company and not for the safety of miners. On the contrary, increasing production is an added risk for workers and time is showing. Countless accidents, injuries and murders in the mines of Bulqiza are the alarm bells that do not stop ringing for 30 years!
Miner Status must be approved as soon as possible!
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