Albania to be rid of excess ammunition by 2010, says minister

POLICAN, April 18 – Last week, Defense Minister Gazmend Oketa visited the Polican military plant, which specializes in disposal of ammunition. Albania has some 100,000 tons of excess ammunition that it seeks to dispose of.
Last month, the explosion of ammunition at a disposal factory near Tirana killed at least 26 persons and injured more than 300, and destroyed some 400 homes in the area.
Oketa said that the disposal of 98,000 tons of excess ammunition was a major goal of his ministry. He said the ministry had already prepared a plan to dispose of the munitions by 2013 but, he believed, there exists the possibility that the process could be finished as early as 2010. Oketa also said he was convinced that the country would become a full NATO member at the organization’s next summit in 2009. (Tirana Times Staff)