Elevated levels of music noise and smoke-filled rooms are an all-year-round problem which gets worse in the colder seasons of the year.

Meanwhile, music noise levels are a ‘thorn in the flesh’ for the inhabitants of the apartment buildings around or above such places of “zombie like” entertainment!

In the past several weeks a couple of newspapers have given special attention to this issue by voicing the concerns of the inhabitants in their daily pages. The issue has gotten to the point that now the Tirana municipality and other related authorities are intervening to remedy the situation by issuing warnings and fines to those who break the rules.

On the one side, I can sympathize with the bar owners and managers who due to increased competition have to come up with ways to attract more customers, though their methods are always the same. If it’s not some band or special singer, then it’s just the DJ blasting loud music. But even for those places that may choose to keep their volume low, the surrounding sounds of other bars tend to intrude at which point the only solution would be to raise their volume as well. In this cacophony of mind-numbing sounds everyone is left deaf or close to it. But in my judgment the source of the problem lies elsewhere.

The obvious lack of entertainment venues such as theaters, galleries, etc., makes it almost inevitable for people to resolve going to such places such where the only language spoken is loud music and smoke.

In their declaration, which has been published over a good number of the Albanian media and online sites, the group lists several major events in which Albanian workers and people died innocently due to political and civil condoned negligence, silence and/or corruption of administration officials. The declaration does not forsake to blame the opposition and civil society for its cooperation and/or silence in light of these events. It closes with a list of 30 top representatives as the ones responsible for the situation based on statistics from 2008, leading with the name of Prime Minister Sali Berisha and closing with the opposition representative Erion Brance.

The statement says: “Over 120 Albanian workers lost their lives in various accidents during 2008 because the authorities take bribes by the private companies so that they won’t have to uphold the security regulations. Over 300 Albanians lost their lives in the public hospitals due to deficient medical services. Over 350 Albanians lost their lives in road accidents during 2008, due to theft of allocated funds for a contemporary communication system. Over 75 Albanians committed suicide in 2008, due to despair, lack of hope and general disillusionment with their country.”

I believe that despite the way you look at the list or its general accuracy, it definitively conveys a desperate state of affairs for us all. Personally I believe in civil protest which may lead to civil disobedience in specific cases, however, I am not for anarchy.

That said, I would love to read and hear what you may thing about this whole issue. (a full list of names can be found here).

The police cuffed him in public as he was coming out of a restaurant near his job. According to the media the doctor did not object as he was presented with the charges and then escorted out. The surgeon had been under investigation for several months after former patients and people had reported him for bribery.

The 58 year old, Agrim Kraja, has distinguished himself as an oncological surgeon with some 30 years of experience. However, the growing number of bribery accusations against him could not go unheeded for long, which is what brought about the courts decision to issue an arrest warrant in his name.

The event brought about mixed reactions by both the media, public and health officials. For the media this was another case of corruption in the health sector where hospital service conditions seem to be unable to remove the mark of corruption in all levels. Meanwhile, health officials and hospital staff had mixed reactions as well. Health ministry officials condemned the way that the doctor was publicly arrested (comparable to the arrest of a criminal) as it diminishes the dignity and role of the doctor as a public health servant, whom demands respect by all. On the other side, those who spoke in his defense against the charges were few.

For the public, including myself, the event hopefully will serve to bring some much needed attention to this plague of our society in a sphere where all of us are vulnerable – our health security. Let’s hope that something good will come out of this.

Please feel free to share your opinions or health service stories here.

My guess is that it will cause some trouble, but not much, since we’re somewhat used to being without regular water. However, on the other side my concern is over the fact that merchants will try to hike their water prices in order to make the most out of people’s need for it.

We’ll have to see after it is over.

Copyright (c) Albanian Blogger 2007

I’m not a smoker and honestly I hate it. That is why when the

The law was implemented successfully since the end of May 2007. During this short-lived period bars and restaurants would not allow their customers to smoke inside. This was relatively easy to implement since people could smoke in the outside areas of bars where it is allowed. However, since the start of October I’ve noticed that more and more bars and restaurants are starting to allow their customers to smoke inside their premises. This is even more pervasive at nights and especially during the weekends.

Even NGOs are starting to point this issue out. Some are now report growing numbers of both female and male smokers in Albania. Meanwhile, even the advertising of smoking, which is forbidden, has not been completely enforced and if this trend continues, then things might go back to where they were before the introduction of this law. Meanwhile, experts say that the anti-smoking is complete in itself, but the issue remains its enforcement by the respective authorities.

For me it is always interesting to observe how we as Albanians want so much for things to change, but seem to be incapable of becoming ourselves that change, especially when it comes to public health issues. I tried to confirm these figures, but could not, anyway some statistics that I heard on the TV say that currently in Albania there are about 872,000 smokers, according to Biznesi Online. Other statistics say that over 50% of those over 18 are considered smokers.

Copyright (c) Albanian Blogger 2007