Defence Minister Kodheli: Gërdec tragedy will not happen again!

Published: Saturday, 15 March 2014 15:48

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The Minister of Defence, Mrs. Mimi Kodheli accompanied by Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces, Major General Jeronim Bazo, on the occasion of the 6th anniversary of Gërdec tragedy, inspected the area where the explosion occurred, killing 26 people and injuring hundreds. Minister Kodheli closely inspected the work being carried out to clear the area from the remnants of ammunition, and promised its rehabilitation as soon as possible. In memory of the victims of the explosion of March 15, 2008, Minister Kodheli placed a wreath at the memorial of the fallen. Then, Defence Minister Mrs. Mimi Kodheli gave a statement to the media.

In her statement she said: Unfortunately today, after six years, we are in one of the areas that will not be easily forgotten, because of the sadness caused by an extraordinary event, Gërdec explosion which killed 26 citizens, injured hundreds and damaged hundreds of homes and businesses. Today, we still consider Gërdec an area which must be cleared, after the work done by the international partners for the possible rehabilitation of this area. Today, we have still much to do, although we made a promise to finish the area clearance in September 2014. There are about 68 thousand square meters still to be rehabilitated and only 7 thousand square meters are rehabilitated from the Armed Forces, and returned to the community. About 25% of all damaged area, or with risky problems, was controlled with detecting equipment and 30% of the area visually, but it has not been verified by minesweeping equipment. This process is underway and we are intensively dealing with it. Here, there are about 25 members of the Armed Forces, who face this situation daily. We will restore this area and will give to this sad event another reality, the reality of rehabilitated area. What I want to convey today is more than that; we need to remind this day to never let it happen again, to never make those mistakes and abuses against the law, for the right to live, for the right to work in a country that did not deserve what he suffered, but it had a government that mismanaged, misused and abused with such business and we all know the consequences. Today, there are still some unclosed lawsuits, all toward the conclusion. I think the government will do the best for the citizens and businesses that were damaged here. You already know and it is a daily discussion of the media, that there are problems with the legal power; we are here to reform a power, which was not always necessarily by the side of the just and weak, so this is a process we are monitoring, for which we made a lot when we were in opposition, and we will undoubtedly do much more now that we are in government.

You stated that the government was responsible for this, but we do not have any responsible, from that government, for all that happened?

It is not exactly like this. There has been a process, which certainly had its outcome. I must share with you a fact. Judiciary is a power that has been questioned and is today in question because there is corruption within it, it is unreformed, it is not at the level of a democratic country, which aspires the status of candidate country and aspires more than that. There is a need for reform; there is a need for restructuring and reformation of processes, laws and system itself. I remain confident, the government will be the forefront of these reforms, because I think only in this manner the right will prevail, and we can do a little bit for what was lost in the tragic event of Gërdec.

Often in Gërdec, in the recent years, there has been the problem of many people who seek remnants of ammunition. Is it still a problem?

In regard to this problem, I want to say that, there are no elements for which people are interested. It is important to have fenced areas and with no access to citizens in areas that are still risky. We are working intensively and I believe there is almost no risk, at least for the citizens. Here, there are still some elements that constitute danger to life, but this is a process, due to hundreds of tons that were blown up, which requires time and commitment.

How much is the total amount of ammunition across the country yet to be dismantled?

Today, Albania has 12 to 13 hotspots of a similar nature, but not of this scale. It is our focus and we have done a round table not long ago to raise a fund with foreign donors, with OSCE leading the process, but also with other donors like the partner and friendly countries of Albania, to make possible the Albania’s clearing. Albania needs to be cleared, not just the hotspots that have a particular risk, such as those with a military background, but also of other natures. I believe that the Armed Forces and Ministry of Defence, during this period, have been at the forefront of some actions and processes that have had a positive impact on the public opinion and media. I invite you to continue this battle together, because it is very important to live in a safer environment all together. It is important that all hotspots are fenced, secured and with no access to citizens. We will continue to be part of this process in clearing up everything that is dangerous to Albania and Albanians.