Missile dismantling, Balla accuses Imami

The Minister Arben Imami declared that he has nothing to do with the dismantling, and as for the pollution, he promised verifications.

Balla: I accuse the Minister of Defense as responsible for the corruption with the ammunition, not only with those that come from foreign countries, but also the ones that are part of our reserve. The military structures have turned into private interests that dismantle ammunition for selling scrap metal. The Minister, as all other Ministers, should explain here why there are ammunitions being dismantled in Shkumbin, who are those military men and if these are the same ammunition that come from Serbia, because the black powder of that type of ammunition has dangerous substances after being burned. These substances travel to sea from the Shkumbin River and might seriously damage the flora and fauna of Albania.

Minister Imami: We do not dismantle, and we have never dismantled anything else than the dozens of tons of ammunition that we have inherited. There are no missiles, no ammunition, no bullets, nothing from Serbia, Bulgarian, Sweden or anywhere else. We have too many to dismantle on our own. We have dismantled 45.000 tons in the last 2 years, and we will dismantle 45 others. This is a duty, that’s how we serve to the country. As for the environment pollution, I will provide information as soon as possible. Black powder might be problematic in absence of water. I will inform the commission and the plenary session.

Ammunition dismantled in rivers

The Shkumbin River in Elbasan has turned into a military “dismantling site”, where army officials are dismantling war ammunitions.

Top Channel has filmed the military vehicles arriving at 09:00 and working until 12:00, near the Xibrrake village. They dismantle ammunition with special equipments, separate the shells and burn the black powder.

The persons who are making this operation seem to be military people. They burn the black powder near the Shkumbin River and then collect the scrap metal which they transport with their own vehicles. At this site there is a white civilian vehicle with Kosovo plates.

There are also civilians engaged in this operation. By law, the sites for dismantling ammunition are approved by the Ministry of Defense. The law also provides that the dismantling of military ammunition can be realized only in military structures, under strict standards, such as the safety distance from living areas, dams and water resources.

This process seems that is being made for the expensive scrap metal, before sending the explosives at the official dismantling sites.

Top Channel investigative program, “Fiks Fare” showed for several days how military and civilians were organized for making profits from missile scrap metals. 

Top Channel