Defence Minister's interview to the television program "Open": With any family in difficulty.

Published: Friday, 27 March 2020 13:21

From your point of view, according to the updated information you have from the Armed Forces working in the terrain are the citizens disobedient?

To be honest, I would like to begin with a thank you, and gratitude to all citizens who have responded to the constant calls of the Prime Minister, Government, and even to the medical specialists. In this difficult situation, they call for social isolation within the family, avoid contacts with other people and restrict all movement as much as possible. Of course, there is also panic, fear, and people rush to the markets, or centers where they can buy food, because they fear that this situation may take too long and consequently, goods for their daily lives will be limited. But there is absolutely no reason to see it that way! The main thing is to implement these measures, which are restrictive but necessary, for bringing this situation to an end as soon as possible and in the best way possible. If we could save even one life, we would have done a lot.

Let me come once more to the question. How does it turn out? Have the citizens already understood it, are they sufficiently sensitized?

As I told you, it turns out to be better every day. Regardless, the Armed Forces in support of the State Police will be on the streets daily to ensure that no one with his irresponsibility will put himself or others at risk, his family, the community or the white shirts that serve us in this very difficult situation.

Mrs. Xhaçka, behind your back I can see a group of people working. Can you explain us who they are?

Intentionally I did the connection from here. It is our Operations Center. It operates 24 hours. Our work, the CHoD's and mine, has been shifted to this center. Today 5,200 Armed Forces are deployed in the field, 4,500 engaged in support of the State Police in road patrols, disciplining citizens for implementing measures taken. Almost 700 others are in the terrain today enabling the humanitarian operation, in inter-institutional groups and headquarters with many others providing families in need with food parcels, assistance to senior retirees near their administrative units. They also make their family expenses, send their pensions, reimbursable drugs and any other need to make sure they don't get out of the house being the most vulnerable to this virus.

There is also great interest in talking about the assistance scheme, how these 600,000 families will be assisted, according to the Council of Ministers Decision which came into force yesterday. From many people, I have received messages on social networks for not being able to get a pension, for different and specific reasons. There is a retiree who is writing to me at this moment: "I live in Burrel, but I get my pension somewhere else." Is it thought how all these cases can be resolved?

Yes, of course. In fact, there are very few days, as everything is done in an emergency and when I say that our work is shifted to a 24-hour operational office, and we have people who do 24-hour work. We have set up a scheme that is very ambitious. More than 12,000 people are in the terrain today, with functional headquarters coordinated by the Minister of Defense. The group includes both the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Health through its social services; moreover there are directors, family doctors and many other actors, the Director General of the Post Office, the Director of Civil Registry, etc., who then coordinate in a pyramid of patronage other headquarters in prefectures run by mayors, and also led by the mayor in municipal units, up to implementation groups consisting of the Armed Forces, and even social workers, social administrators, from family doctors and many volunteers who make it possible for this network to reach those in need, the needy family or the retiree who needs care.

This mechanism has already been studied, and in addition to the identified groups and this identified list, cross-linked through civil services, social protection, social field administrators, we have made many contact numbers available through the Co-governance Portal. Anyone who cannot benefit from this scheme, or has not been able to help through this scheme, can contact us, because we are 24 hours here in the Armed Forces, and also every other institution has ready operational teams 24 hours to receive these requests and reflect them on the day-to-day running of our work.

Let's talk about numbers. There are 600,000 families, so there are many. How likely is all this structure that you have organized to distribute aid to 600,000 families? Is this affordable?

It's quite affordable, there are 600,000 families and individuals. There are 60 thousand families receiving the financial aid, which we have classified and categorized according to the needs. Even within the financial aid scheme, there are families that are more in need than others, because they may not have other incomes, and they may live alone through financial assistance, which is in average 5,000 Lek per month. They may have no other income, they live only with financial assistance, but they have a family of over 5 members and usually 12 members including 3 of whom may be under the age of 13. So, I am trying to say that within this scheme there are categories that we will serve with great frequency. There are also other categories that we will serve every 2 weeks. There are others that we will serve every week, there are retirees whom we will not send food packages, but we will help them sending the pension, and reimbursable medicines.

How will you find them, because the address system in Albania is not so accurate? I have a lot of people, for example in Damian, Tirana two paralyzed people are in bed, and the house is almost collapsed by the earthquake. "Do something please, tell to Madam Minister. I'm reading some of the messages that I have on Eni Vasili's ‘Open’ broadcast Facebook: "We need help, there are 13 days we are confined at home, five people, unemployed. There is a long store listing. Nobody borrows us. I want to communicate with the post office so that our retirement income can be delivered, but it does not. So, there is concern and maybe confusion among the citizens about this.

They are right. We are doing everything we can to restore confidence that this scheme will work. Hoping, this will not be a long lasting period, but no matter how long it will last, we will always be there. This list, which I am telling you today, which we have finally examined, is cross-checked through social services, through civil registrations, through mail with the address book and the social administrators in the field who have identified them. We have identified the entire category of financial aid and those who benefit from it, as well as the entire category of retirees who have no children or family members in their administrative unit. We have identified all those who are lonely and have no family, or children to serve them these days, to enable them not to leave home, that is our purpose, that is what we will do.

If other families or lonely retirees who need help, and contact us, this mechanism is now available and working. Since yesterday, we are receiving complaints, requests, citizens' needs to fit into this filter and serve everyone for 24 hours.

What we are doing, if I can show you, we produce such schemes every day, detailing who has been served and where, on a very clear map of all municipalities and units. I want to say that within five days, since this operation started, we have served about 76 thousand families, out of which, 40 thousand are helped through food parcels, and 30 thousand are pensioners who have been served in various forms. Someone was helped with food packages, others in reimbursable prescriptions. There are 7,063 reimbursed prescriptions that are sent home to all retirees today. It is being consulted with the Post Office employers assisted and helped by the Armed Forces infrastructure and logistics so that the pension, disability payments and anything else to be sent to these families and these retirees.

Problems are different and maybe afterwards, as we usually do, our staff will also share the concerns that Albanian citizens directly bring to us through social network communication. We can say once again if there are specific impediments or concerns, what a citizen can do if he does not receive his pension at home, none knocks at his door, or no help is sent. There are many such messages on my phone. I wouldn't want to stop reading one by one. One retiree says, I've been locked up since March 8, I'm lonely, no one's been knocking on my door, not even to bring me food, nothing and even less the pension. In such cases, how can they claim what belongs to them?

It is quite fair. I told them it is a system that functions in emergency situations. But I am proud to say that we have examined it and will be able to serve anyone who needs it. For those whom we have not yet contacted or have not been in their families, all administrators at their municipal units have provided contact numbers to all residents so we can contact them to tell us their problems and needs.

If these are not enough, through the Co-operation Platform, they are still contacting all of them. All our staffs, institutions, not just the Armed Forces, are available 24 hours to do this accurately, to reach out to all those in need, and to address their problems. If we can't solve it through this mechanism, which I'm explaining, there will be another way. Whoever needs us, we will be there for them.

I do not want to make it a political issue. Anyway, the opposition has reacted this afternoon on such issues. It has also published a video. We can see it together and if you have an answer Mrs. Xhacka. This is a video distributed by the Democratic Party, Secretary General Mr. Bardhi.

It is rather sad to hear many of the problems people have in their daily lives, and in their families. But we can neither claim nor the opposition that in a state of emergency and in a state of war, as we are today, we can solve some problems accompanied by the difficult Albanian transition, including those of poverty or impossibility or facing these things. What we are doing and there is neither propaganda nor politics here, nothing: we are 24 hours reaching the citizens, and coping with this difficult situation that are going through. It is not a situation caused by politics, or man, it is a situation that the whole world is facing, a pandemic situation where we are doing our best to save as many lives as possible without solving one or another's economic problems.  Undoubtedly, in the face of these restrictive measures, we will do our utmost to help those who are the most impossible in our society to the greatest difficulty in preventing the deepening of the problem.

What is the biggest difficulty You and the Armed Forces face these days?

We are also human, have families, and fear accompanies us in our daily work and contacts. Keeping up with such a great mechanism when everyone is at home with their families. We are obliged, and I'm not talking about myself, I'm talking about any AAF staff who are at work today. That's a task with many responsibilities and I have nothing but gratitude for these people and for all of them, the Police force and the white shirts, and for all who are standing today to help and do their best for helping and reaching out to all the people in need and isolated in their homes.