(29 Jan 1999) English/Nat
The United Nations has begun an amnesty on Albanian weapons looted during the country's 1997 uprising.
In return for guns and ammunition the U-N has pledged to restore the Albania's shattered infrastructure.
Thousands of weapons and several tons of ammunition were stolen from abandoned military bases after pyramid investment schemes collapsed in 1997, lunging the country into chaos.
The United Nations is offering villagers in the Albanian mountains roads, electricity and phone lines in return for guns and bullets.
In the small village of Tunj, the U-N invited villagers to hand in their weapons.
Old and young showed up dragging guns, bullets and hand grenades across the rough terrain.
Many brought loads of arms in baskets and on the back of donkeys.
Vast but unknown numbers of weapons were stolen from abandoned military barracks and ammunition stores in 1997.
It followed the collapse of pyramid investment schemes in here which affected nearly every family and left much of the country penniless.
In the resulting chaos disenfranchised soldiers abandoned their posts and anti-government militants looted thousands of guns.
Schools closed and the infrastructure of this impoverished nation collapsed.
The rebels, who had long felt betrayed by the regime of Sali Berisha, took advantage of the political and social confusion and enlisted the help of the country's children.
Inevitably many of the stolen arms found their way into the hands of the youngsters.
UPSOUND: Gunfire
Now, with many roads unpassable through years of neglect, the United Nations is implementing a weapons-for-development project.
Philip Peirce is helping with the project.
He says finding employment for the impoverished local population is also a priority.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"The idea is that we provide some development activities particularly infrastructure repairs, which can employ lots and lots of people, in return for voluntary disarmament of these people. So we started today in this village of Tunj, to start to collect weapons."
SUER CATION: Philip Peirce, UNops
On the first day of the project U-N officials say they gathered 120 Kalashnikovs and 1-point-5 tons of ammunition.
Most of the weapons came from three factories that were raided during the period of upheaval in 1997.
The hope is that by taking these weapons away from the people of Albania, the U-N can help restore some calm to this bitterly divided country.
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20 июл 2015
