Army more able to dispose obsolete ammunition

TIRANA, Oct. 9 – Defense Minister Arben Imami said the army and defense ministry authorities had managed to triple the amount of obsolete ammunition that was disposed off this year.
Imami said that up to 19,000 tons of excess ammunition was expected to be disposed of until the end of the year. The plan for this year had been 12,000 tons. That was made with the same funding and working capacities and achieved through a better management.
He said they would soon sign deals with a NATO agency, NAMS, on logistic problems and would increased the amount of disposal up to 25,000 tons per year.
Besides keeping a low cost of that operation, the minister also said the process would not cause any damage of the environment.
Despite that some villages in southern Tepelena district have complained and do not want disposal factories or polygons to be used near them, fearing explosions like that of Gerdec could threaten them.
The explosion in March 2008 at a disposal private factory close to capital Tirana killed 26 and injured 300 persons.
Imami said that by 2013, they would have disposed of most of the ammunition and everything would be completed in 2014 with the most dangerous ammunition.
The minister told reporters last week that the armed forces had also increased their operational capacities
He said that the forces in Afghanistan were involved in more dangerous situations.
Reform of the ministry’s and the army’s infrastructure, personnel was another main issue of concern for the minister. He said they had already cut 15 percent of the staff in an effort to get rid of bureaucracy