Contaminated areas from ammunition in Kordhoca and Picar of Gjirokastra are cleaned

: Published: Tuesday, 18 July 2017 17:20

The Armed Forces, in cooperation with the Albanian Mines and Ammunition Coordination Office (AMMCO), the Norwegian People’s Aid humanitarian organization and with the financial support of the United States government, successfully completed the clearance of two hot spots in Kordhocë and Picar of Gjirokastra , which are contaminated with dangerous ammunition.

On the occasion of the completion of the clearance and certification of these areas were present the Minister of Defense, Mimi Kodheli, Minister of Culture Ms. Mirela Kumbaro in the capacity of the elected deputy of the Gjirokastra district, Deputy Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces, Brigadier General Dedë Prenga, Prefect of the Region, Flamur Bime, representatives from the US Embassy and effective specialists who worked on cleaning these areas.

In her speech, Minister Kodheli stressed the importance of the Armed Forces devoting to cleaning the areas contaminated with dangerous, often unexploded ammunition. "The Ministry of Defense is at the helm of this process and continues to be the main contributor to the fight against the phenomenon that endangers the lives of Albanian citizens every day.

Immediately after obtaining the financial support needed by our partners, it was possible to begin the work on clearing of the identified spots, "said Mrs. Kodheli, who mentioned other areas where this process was completed. "Just recently, we turned the security of the Gërdec area residents, by removing it from the map as a dangerous area. We cleaned hot spots in Klos, Laç, Lezha, Berat, etc., making life safer for residents and the surrounding community. The number of hot spots with UXO (Unexploded ordnance) is currently reduced to 4 out of 19 identified. I hope that the financial support will continue until the elimination of the remaining hot spots in the Sinanaj area in Tepelena, Juba-Sukth in Durres and Burrel. In this way, in 2018, we will have successfully completed this last challenge in the demilitarization process in Albania. "

Minister Kodheli recalled the four soldiers fallen in the duty from the explosion of ammunition depot in the village of Picar 20 years ago, and thanked the effectives and specialists that enabled the clearance of these areas. Also, Minister Kodheli thanked the United States government for financial support for the realization of this process.

The process of cleaning the hot spots in Kordhocë and Picar lasted 8 and 10 months, during which a total of 52,000 m2 of land was cleansed and thousands of dangerous ammunition of various calibers, such as mortars, shells, fuse, grenades, etc.