EXPLOSION AT POLICAN HIGHLIGHTS UNRESOLVED

C O N F I D E N T I A L TIRANA 000007

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EUR/SCE:JERRY ISMAIL, PM/WRA:DAVE DIAZ AND MARK
ADAMS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/07/2019
TAGS: PARM PGOV MASS AL
SUBJECT: EXPLOSION AT POLICAN HIGHLIGHTS UNRESOLVED
SECURITY CONCERNS IN DEMIL

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Stephen Cristina for reasons 1.4 (b) a
nd (d)


1. (C) Summary. On January 6, an employee of the Polican
Mechanical Plant was killed when hit by the accidental
explosion of a mortar fuse. Polican is one of two sites
(along with the Mjekes Explosives Factory) designated for
industrial demilitarization, planned to begin this month.
U.S. contractors, through PM/WRA funding, will supervise a
line at Polican to dismantle 82mm rounds. Due to the Gerdec
tragedy, demilitarization has received increased public
scrutiny, and the Ministry of Defense was quick to respond
with a detailed press statement that effectively calmed
public opinion. The accident highlights continuing concerns
about responsibility for safety and security standards at the
demil facilities. It could also potentially cause an already
skittish military to become even more so, but the reaction of
the MOD's General Secretary - the new head of demil
coordination - has been promising to date. End Summary.

THE INCIDENT
--------------


2. (U) According to a public statement by the Ministry of
Defense, at 8:10 a.m. six employees of Polican were cleaning
the area outside the demil buildings at Polican of waste from
previous demil activities, when to keep warm they lit a fire
using crates that used to contain 57mm mortar rounds.
Unfortunately, one crate still contained a mortar fuse. The
fuse lit, and the explosion hit employee Suzana Kapxhiu in
the side of the head. Kapxhiu later died on the way to the
Polican hospital before receiving first aid. One other
employee suffered minor wounds. The Ministry of Defense
declared the accident the result of the careless neglect of
strict safety rules (fires are not allowed within the Polican
facility).

MOD PR STRATEGY
--------------


3. (U) An incident which had the potential of stirring up a
media storm was quickly calmed by a proactive MoD press
office, an improvement on the past. The next day, DefMin
Oketa visited Polican, met with the director and with the
family of the victim. He then held a press conference from
Polican where he insisted on stricter safety standards and
enforcement and promised to press forward with demil.
(Comment: Overall, MoD press strategy concerning demil has
improved markedly over the last several months, due in part
to receptivity to coaching from Post,s Public Affairs
Section).


4. (C) The press statement does raise some questions, though.
Most striking, it is unclear why there were 57mm rounds at
Polican. Although the statement claimed that Polican has
been dismantling 57mm rounds for the last four years, there
is no record of this. The only official demil to occur at
Polican was a 2006-2007 NAMSA project to demil 72mm rounds.
US contractor Cubic, who has been coordinating the MOD's
national demil plan, rightly points out that no one knows
what "unofficial" demil was taking place before the Gerdec
tragedy. In conclusion, the MoD stressed that the accident
was not a result of demil activities, but of carelessness
while cleaning the area. Although there have been some
rumors that the accident was the result of a current
"unofficial" demil project, this rumor has not gained much
ground and is unlikely to do so.

SAFETY CONCERNS
--------------


5. (C) The incident highlights a continuing concern at
Polican: who is responsible for enforcing safety standards.
Like Mjekes and the Military Export Import Company (MEICO),
while Polican is a government entity, it is self-financed and
largely self-directed. It does not fall under military
authority and the only military presence is there to guard
the outer perimeter of the plant. Thus, the MoD to date has
not assumed responsibility for safety standards or for
providing emergency assistance (e.g. ambulance or first aid
materials),and has insisted this is the responsibility of
Polican and the U.S. contractor Armor Group. One solution
advocated by MoD's J4 is to return Mjekes and Polican to the
military structure so that the military can take full
responsibility for demil activities. This, however, would

require significant time and legal reworking, and there is a
fear that this could further stall commencement of industrial
demil work.

NEW DEMIL COORDINATOR
--------------


6. (C) In mid-December, Defense Minister Oketa requested his
recently appointed Secretary General Fiqiri Kupe to take
charge of the MoD's demil working group. Demil Czar Fatmir
Bozdo will continue in his position, but act more as an
advisor to Kupe. Kupe was previously Oketa's legal advisor
and is in his mid-thirties. Besides being a lawyer, he is
also by profession a civil engineer like Oketa. Both are
from Durres and went to the same university. According to
Bozdo, Kupe has so far been aggressive in pushing progress on
demil issues. In a January 6 meeting with Poloff and ODC,
Kupe declared that legal issues have been resolved and Oketa
has issued orders for agreements to be signed between
Polican, Mjekes, the MoD and the U.S. contractor Armor Group.
After that, the MoD will develop a transport plan for the
munitions, and Kupe expects industrial demilitarization at
Mjekes (a line for 160mm rounds) and Polican (a line for 82mm
rounds, supervised by Armor Group) to start in the next few
weeks.

COMMENT
--------------


7. (C) While Kupe's predictions seem optimistic given
previous delays, his attitude and authority within the MoD
are promising. He readily placed responsibility for
yesterday's tragedy on the Ministry of Defense and insisted
that the accident should not slow down demil efforts or delay
the commencement of work at Polican or Mjekes. The real
proof, though, will be when demil finally begins.


CRISTINA