FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
Spaç miner Kastriot Prenga raised his voice at the DP rally for their rights.
As he seeks a solution, he says that the minister pretended not to hear.
Full speech:
I am Kastriot Prenga, from Mirdita. Father of 3 children, and for several years I have been working as a miner in the Spaç Mine. I believe that there are few in this country who have not heard of this mine, where during the dictatorship quite a few people lost their lives. And to this day, the conditions in the mine have not changed much since then. The company sells the copper from our underground, but will not care about those who extract it. We are poor people whose plight has forced us to work for a salary that cannot even be called that.
But for almost a month, and the little alms they gave us by going tens of meters underground, I no longer have it. This is because we dared to demand our rights! We demanded a more dignified salary and better working conditions. We are not slaves to be treated as such. I am one of those 70 miners that the company fired at the drop of a pen just because we dared to demand a better life for our children. We complained to the state, but the minister pretended not to listen.
The people sent by the Labor Inspectorate to negotiate, instead of stopping there at the mine gate, went to the administration offices. We waited for them for six hours in the rain and wind, and when they came out they told us: “Stop the strike, you will be left without bread, what will you feed your children?” I am telling those gentlemen: leave your chairs and power not for a day, but for an hour, and try working in our country. I believe you would not resist.
We also protested in front of the Parliament, on October 30. Socialist MPs came and went, looking at us, but for them we did not exist, just as we do not exist for the state and the company, which seems to have paid the price for this building here. Why did we rise up? For working conditions, because we enter the gallery and do not know if we will leave. For a salary that would provide us with a more dignified life. In those lands we were born, raised and gave birth to children. But its profits are disappearing into the pockets of the government and who knows where. For us, nothing.
Today the weather has cooled in Mirdita and the snow has started. I am unemployed, my children need heating and clothing, the snow will do its thing and you don't ask whether you have or don't have to buy firewood or clothing. Where can we complain, who will take care of me and my friends? Today I hear about millions stolen, in tunnels, on the roads, with concessions, or who knows what else, while we are in front of the mine doors every day for a living. This is the state and these are the ones who run us today. Because of these thieves, we are where we are. Our brothers and children are fleeing, because only those with money and power have the right to live here.
I don't get involved in politics much, but I'm here in this protest because no one can bargain with my life and the lives of my children. I'm here because I'm aware that in a responsible government, this wouldn't happen. A responsible government wouldn't tell me how to live, but would protect my rights. But when it steals and doesn't govern, this happens. That's why we all need to stand up, because it's not just us miners who are suffering. Farmers, pensioners, and small businesses are suffering too. The sooner this government breaks its neck, the sooner the thieves go to prison, the more hope we'll have for living as people. Enough is enough. Thank you.
Lini një Përgjigje