Playing with the striking miners’ lives is no way to achieve business goals, and ignoring their pleas spells trouble for Albanian society
Tirana Times
The strike at the Bulqiza chrome mine in northern Albania has laid bare business and government failures to properly run what could be one of the most profitable business operations in the country.
Allowing the situation to deteriorate to a lengthy hunger strike shows a frightening lack of corporate social responsibility on the part of the Austrian-Russian company, ACR, that operates the mine under a concession agreement with the Albanian state.
At the same time, the Albanian government and the responsible ministry for the mine are showing complete unwillingness to intervene to solve the situation. This inaction by the Albanian government is deplorable to say the least and raises suspicions on why state officials are not doing more to end the strike.
Last, but not least, the complete lack of sensitivity on this matter shown so far by the Albanian society at large during these hot August days is also troubling.
Thankfully the media continues to closely cover the strike. But what the video footage from local television stations and news reporting from the mine reveal is also very disturbing.
The conditions at the mine look almost medieval. There is hardly any modern technology to speak of. And the lives of the miners that have been lost over the years complete a grim picture about the conditions at the mine.
It is clear the Bulqiza chrome mine operates under conditions of uncertainty, and due to lack of investment and proper regulations, it is clear there is a lot of exploitation going on.
Beyond the employer-employee dynamics at the mine, the strike reveals potential ongoing corruption in how the mine is managed, according to local analysts, who say it goes up to the higher levels of the hierarchy of power in Albania.
Under Albania’s concession laws, two contracts have been signed so far to manage the mine, promising a lot of investment in improving the mine. A failed agreement with Italian company DARFO ended the fist contract. Then there was a new agreement with ACR, a joint-venture between Austria’s DCM DECOmetal and Russian company Terwingo. Neither DARFO nor ACR made anywhere near the investment required by the contract to improve conditions at the mine. They took whatever chrome they could, however, selling it to a world market hungry for metals.
Now, as the life of the striking miners hangs in the balance, local media are suggesting other reasons behind inactivity from government circles to force a solutions: someone is interested in removing ACR from the Bulqiza mine, and the miners are caught as pawns, as those standing the make a profit are not interested in finding a solution, but rather making the situation deteriorate so much that another company is brought in to manage the mine.
The miners deserve everything they are asking for, and more. Whether ACR stays or goes, the most important thing is to change the trend in how the Bulqiza mine, one of the country’s greatest assess, is managed. Playing with the miners lives is no way to achieve business goals. Neither is relying on informal corrupt agreements.
And ignoring the miners’ pleas for help, as pretty much everyone but the media is doing in these hot days of summer, spells big trouble for the Albanian society and government.
