Local farmers in the agricultural areas in the southern region of Fier attended an open dialogue with the Prime Minister Edi Rama as part of a national tour and dialogue in the municipalities across the country.

 

Hello everyone! 

Thank you very much for attending this meeting. The view in front of our eyes is in total contrast to the countryside usually portrayed on the TV screens.

It is the height of the contrast with the staged images of apple and onion throwing or milk pouring on the streets in a desperate show on behalf of “the government abandonment”, something that is not true at all.

It is definitely painful to see even a single apple or an onion being thrown away or a millilitre milk being poured, yet there is also another truth about the products being exported to find out that the overwhelming majority of the farmers have already realized what you and all other farmers from north to south have realized too. And it is thanks to you that we aim to increase the value of the country’s agricultural exports to over 500 million euros until end of this year, significantly up from 130 million euros in agricultural exports when we embarked on this path after taking office in 2013. In a nutshell, we are seeking to increase the value of agricultural exports to over half a billion euros this year. I heard Frida saying that Xhafa now earns $20,000 – I apologize for mentioning profit figures – but this is to create the idea about what is happening with real hard-working individuals and farmers, what is happening what with those who really know what to do with their land area and I am really inspired, very encouraged, very grateful to individuals like Olsi today, young people, who understand, and the majority has actually understood it that one can earn more here rather than abroad, where you would have to work for others.

One can gain much more earnings by cultivating their inherited family land area and building greenhouses.  And we are here to provide maximum assistance and support for every hardworking farmer. Never before have farmers received tax-free oil and the quantity of oil provided to farmers for free is estimated at around eight million litres. We are committed to supporting farmers and the agriculture sector, because it is the time when we should make the utmost effort. We can do nothing to stop the war. We did nothing for the war to start, but (Vladimir) Putin’s war against a sovereign country has actually launched bombs on Ukraine, forcing more than seven million people to flee the county, but sending the monstrous inflation to Albania and other countries throughout the world. And we are here not to let hope fade away and tell you that what is happening today will make us stronger and definitely wiser and more capable, because some seek for solutions and some others seek to find people guilty at times of crisis.

We are here to seek and find solutions. You are here to seek solutions. The working people everywhere seek solutions and they can’t waste time and they can’t afford engaging in useless efforts to seek culprits, but those who try to find people guilty and do whatever it takes to create smokescreen and cause tension, incite the fire of hatred against the State Police.

Look at the transformation that has taken place since we embarked on this path together with you all. No agricultural collection and storage centres were built or were operational here. It was out of question that farmers were registered or issued a taxpayer unique identification number (NIPT), because you were told not to register, because “you are free people. It would be better for you not to be registered anywhere, because otherwise you would be deprived of everything.”

As many as 82,000 farmers have been already registered and, unlike what you were told, you are now the only farmers in Europe and in the region relieved of any tax, because time has to come for taxes to be imposed on you, although some think that we have increased the burden of taxes on citizens.

There are still patches of agricultural land that have yet to be cultivated. It is a small percentage, but we can’t afford to let a single square metre of land uncultivated, let alone hectares of land.

That’s why I have urged the Socialist MPs representing the rural constituencies to sit with you and work in the meantime with the Ministry of Finance and Economy to draft a new legal norm stipulating that a land owner can’t leave it uncultivated, refuse to rent it out and allow nobody to cultivate it.

No country around the world allows it, because the land is both a private, but also a public property. The farm land cannot be left uncultivated.

However, to cut it short, I would like to say that it is time for us to usher in a new phase, and we should not cease working for a single moment. 

Thank you very much!