Shala protests continue, prevent miners from going to work

The Shala protests have continued on Thursday as a sign of dissatisfaction with the recent employment of a number of workers in “Trpce”. About 150 Shala, mainly candidates who have not managed to be employed, have blocked by 7:00 on Thursday, Mitrovica Street Stan Trg and have not allowed vehicles to move to that section. Thus a large number of miners cannot go to work. Large police forces, including the commander of the police station in the south, Ahmet Josha, have conveyed the protest all along. Protesters have after a while allowed cars to pass, but not even bus workers. Protesters were extremely angry at the workers who were going to work because, as the head of the Protection Organising Council, Arsim Musa, has said, they have not supported the protest. Musa has said the goal of the protest has been to block the road and not be allowed to go to work either of Stan Targu's workers, writes the newspaper “Zeri”.

The three Shaliana demands

Their demand continues to be the annulment of the contest, as well as the dismissal of the management and Board of “Treps”. Protesters have demanded that Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti address, as well as Minister of Economic Development Roseta Hajdari, but they have not been declared whether to present themselves to protesters. “We're constantly protesting, we have our demands, we need to be met, we wanted to block the road, so there could not be any movement in that part, so we wouldn't let even the miners go to work, we asked them to support us, but we're only partially supporting us, so we won't let them go to work”, KOP chairman Arsim Musa said. But the road has been unblocked after about 40 minutes, after the commander of the police station “South”, Ahmet Josha, has managed to persuade them to clear the road. We've been talking to protesters all the time, asking for understanding from them, professionally we've approached, and we've explained that clearing the road is legal. In this way they too have been convinced that they must free the road as a whole so that there will be a normal flow of vehicles and people. Afterwards, protesters have moved ahead of the mine's entrance to Stan Trg.

The Chairman of the Organising Council of Protection, Arsim Musa, has warned the radicalisation of the protest. He has said that if requirements are not met, then it is possible to stop production in “Trepce”.

The Shalan protest has run into opposition to a large number of residents of other Mitrovica parts, even they estimate that “kumbarra” of this protest is Mitrovica President Agim Bahtiri, who wants to cast divisions among its residents of the Bajgora Shala, now when he became part of the ruling Vetevendosje party. At the moment when Mitrovica chairman Agim Bahtiri, the day before the protest was held, had come up with a statement in support of the Shalans, they have not hesitated to judge Bahtiri that in protest, he intends to divide Shala. Each in its own way and with a dose of anger, they threw “the wood” on Agim Bahtiri.

Did Agim Bahtiri have anything to do with the protest?

I'm Kostova's and I don't have his in a bag? Neither is he of Zabari, nor of Vaganica, nor any other, save Shala. Take it for you, Agim Bahtiri. My kids are starving. So far your blind policy has brought us”, a Kostova resident said.

And Ardiana Begu said the goal is to introduce division among people. “Shalanians against Shalaj, 97 out of 120 are in charge of Shala, and this Agim Bahtiri has no power to hire any of Gashavci, Lushta, Zabhar, Kosthova, or Kchiqi. You don't want to deal with these divisions, but you're going to throw Shala away. Now you're trying to set us up against 97 Shallians, who's in charge. The first is Kosovo's, of all Albanians, of this Agim Bahtiri s '%i has remained but to get Shali and others to themselves, but also the”, she says.

Harsh against Mitrovica's chairman has also been expressed by the Union of Zabari. There are still still a few of them who have not asked Agim Bahtiri with their friends who to hire. I can tell you, God doesn't confuse us with Dawn and our friends, now look at the Shalanians against 97 Shalians who have come to work, instead of happy for 87 families. What kind of policy is the dear brother, brother against brother, these politicians, may God kill them who look at the Union for their own pocket.

Ibrahim: 80 percent of the employees are Shala

The manager of “Treps”, Basri Ibrahimi, has said the resignation is not a solution, while he has found that the annulment of the competition is not in his hands. “The competition can cancel any higher institutions, not me, of course, if the competition or competition procedures are found. We are aware that the number of unemployed in the Shala region and in Mitrovica is much larger in the country. Our options as companies are these. We've accepted as much as we can, even though Trepcha needs a workforce. We are willing to cooperate with the Government to issue a special law on the temporary retirement of miners and workers of the Shrepca because nature itself requires a newer workforce, which has given me more contributions to {Trepca”, Ibrahim said others.

He has reiterated that the recruiting procedure has fully gone into line with the regulation, dissected are those whom the commission has deemed to be the best and who in some way have merited selection and public lists to be declared for admission.

The “in no way has Shala been overlooked, as the Shalans are declaring it, because about 80 percent of those accepted to work are from the Bajgora Shala. Can't isolate Shala, Drenica or any other region, but are taken to base the criteria. It's natural that the Shaliyans are mostly selective, because they haven't competed from other parts, since they don't know the mine, mine work, or flotilla, so even naturally, the majority are Shaljan and Mitrovica's district”.

The manager of “Treps”, Basri Ibrahimi, has promised that other workers will be accepted, since before retirement there are 430 workers expected to retire within five years.