Dashnor Kaloçi
Memorie.al publishes the unknown story of the journalist Aleks Mavraqi, one of the most famous pens of the period of the Zog Monarchy, who in 1935, suggested to the well-known company “SITA”, that it take over the lighting of the main Boulevard of Tirana with the name Zogu I, as well as 7500 houses of the capital that at that time used kerosene. What was the project that journalist Mavraqi requested from the SITA company, which was previously requested by the former Mayor, Abedin Nepravishta to the company I.S.E.H. and Mavraq’s pressure on that company that owned the Capital Power Station and was accused of corruption!?
Now let’s get to our conversation with the Axionists. We have said that SITA can develop a useful activity in the capital, becoming a development factor for it. SITA can also extract kerosene from the latest jevgut hut. Here is how: Tirana is estimated to have 7500 buildings that need lighting. Of these, only 1800 are lit with electricity and the remnants of 7500 are illuminated, today in 1935 AD only with kerosene. If SITA at its own expense made free installations in all these houses, not only the connection to the distribution wire, but also the interior installations of the houses, it would have gained a lot and in addition to the profit it would claim with every right the title “Company National”, with which you will become a development factor of great importance. This is what the well-known journalist and publicist of the period of the Zog Monarchy, Aleks Mavraqi, who attacked the SITA company, which owned the Tirana Power Plant, wrote, among other things, in a long article, accusing it of profits. illegal to the detriment of the state coffers and the pockets of ordinary tax-paying citizens. According to the journalist Mavraqi, the company SITA, to which he suggested and asked to take over the lighting of the main Boulevard of Tirana (Zogu I-r), not only would not lose any large sum of money for that venture, but it would gain a good name and justify the bad reputation it had received at the time due to some illegal gains in the concessionary field it operated at the time. But to create a clearer idea about the accusations against the SITA society, we are publishing the full article of the well-known journalist Aleks Mavaqi, who after 1944, was imprisoned by the communists accused of being “the enemy of the people”.
Mavraq’s accusations against SITA in the newspaper “Arbnia”
SITA Joint Stock Companies. Interpretation of the contract and guarantee … no interest. What can SITA do for the capital?
A friend told me yesterday that we do not have the right to attack only Sita, because we have some other societies. -General of Korça-word comes, which are more tyrannical and greedier than Sita. Then, from what we have written so far, it is not proven that Sita earns much, but Sita has the right to claim that these profits are right and legitimate, since she is based on the contracts she has concluded with the State and the Municipality of the Capital. This opinion may have been formed by another of our singers, and therefore we find it appropriate to answer this question worldwide, though the people have not solemnly proved that they are of one mind as to Sita, and though we have complaints why we did not write all the injustices of that Society, why what we wrote we are very few.
All will be investigated
The first of the work we do not attack Sita, but study its condition, activity and administration. This does not mean that we have accepted other societies as ideals and that they seem to act properly in their own way and in the country. We have not given such a certificate to any company to date and we do not intend to give it before studying them. So, it will be the turn of other companies, such as: Stamles, Sasa of Shkodra, General of Korça, etc. In terms of profits in whether or not Sita’s revenge, we have developed this a lot. We have as much evidence as you want, that Sita wins outside the contract unfairly. We do not believe that the contract stipulates that black salt should be absent and that people should be forced to eat white salt! Then the contract does not provide … that salt can be wet! No contract has exempted Sita from monopoly stamp taxes, and we have not seen anywhere written that consumers have to pay rent for automatic clocks that only serve Sitas. No contract and no logic can say that it can be called a legitimate thing that the 500 francs that were deposited in 1927 become in 1935 gold francs one thousand five hundred and ninety-five! But for the good implementation of contracts, no one is interested. So, Sita interprets the contracts and implements them as she pleases or her interest?
Guarantee required by customers
A living proof of our claim is the issue of the guarantee that Sita takes from its electricity customers. The contract may provide that Sita has the right to require from its customers a guarantee of at least one month’s consumption. When it comes to guarantees, it does not necessarily mean depositing a sum of money with the company. This guarantee can be a letter of guarantee from the Bank, a bill of exchange with a secure firm, or in two forms, a credit certificate from the Chamber of Commerce, a mortgage after all. Sita, as we have been complained, pursuant to this provision, requires a cash deposit of a one-month consumption, excluding other forms of guarantee. Thus, it is calculated that Sita has a capital of some 25000 fr. gold that form these guarantees – calculated from 15 fr. ar for each customer as a minimum required by Sita – which he uses without paying any interest to depositors. Now we do not believe that such a thing is foreseen by any contract! Yes, we have said: Sita and logic, are two things that never coincide!
What could Sita do in the capital?
Now let’s get to our conversation with the Axionists. We have said that Sita can develop a useful activity in the capital, becoming a development factor for it. Sita can also extract kerosene from the last jevgut hut. Here is how: Tirana is estimated to have 7500 buildings that need lighting. Of these, only 1800 are lit with electricity and the remnants of 7500 are illuminated, today in 1935 AD only with kerosene. If Sita at her own expense made free installations in all these houses, not only the connection to the distribution wire, but also the internal installations of the houses, she would have gained a lot and in addition to the profit she would claim the title “Company National”, with which you will become a development factor of great importance. We wonder … You are ordering the accounts!
How can Tirana be enlightened?
Of the 7500 houses that are without electricity today, of course many are not justified in receiving electricity, from the fact that they are very old, such as some huts in Tabakët etc. So those who need light. We will count them at 4000. We found this amount after an investigation and not by chance! As the technicians said an installation with 3 lamps, with the clock, with the whole cost on average 80 fr. gold using good material. We will calculate to have rounded numbers, from 100 francs. So, we have 4,000 houses with 100,000 gold francs each. In addition, Sita will spend on expanding its distribution network. I’m not competent but one who knows of these things told me that Sita should spend 30,000 francs. I say 50,000 gold francs. So, we have a total of 450,000 gold francs that will cost Sita for electrical installations throughout Tirana. Today’s Sita power plant, without any additional personnel and machinery, can still produce 1,000,000 kilowatts. Of course, Sita will also spend something on oil and other things needed for the production of electricity, but in order not to prolong it, let us accept that the new production will cost as much as the old production, namely 13 centimeters of gold. per kilowatt per month on average, so we will have 4,000 new subscribers per 10 kilowatts, equal to 40,000 per year. Now let’s do the verification test adding to the cost of 62,400 fr. ar as we said above, counting on this interest rate for 12% per annum. So, we have: cost 480,000 kilowatts for 0.13 fr. ari 62,400 interest capital. 450,000 for 12% 54,000 amount 116,400. we have electricity collections, as stated above nl fr. ar 264,000 and so we have a simple profit of 147,000 fr. gold per year. That is, within two and a half years we will raise the capital we have available for the installations that we will do for free in 4000 houses in Tirana and for nine and a half years that our company will have life, they will be added to our profits with 201,000 fr. per year. Of this much-loved actionists, we want to influence only fr. gold 189,040 so that you get 170 fr. gold for each share and not the 85 they receive today and the change of 12,560 fr. gold per year we will forgive … the current administration of Sita for the mistakes we eventually made, because of them, because they did not give us the details we were asked to base our study on the fact indisputable . But, do not worry, that even these bases that we have received, are completely safe and true. If it is different, let the Administrative Council of the Company refute us, because we know that the General Director does not have the competence of the initiative. Well, at least I didn’t go down without explaining myself first. We do not want such great generosity on her part.
SITA – How can Zog I Boulevard be illuminated – Our proposals
In yesterday’s issue of the newspaper, we proved that Sita loves the interest to get the kerosene from the Capital and still that it counts as if it makes all the installations completely ready at its own expense. But we do not want such great generosity from the societies in question. Today we will make some other proposals, of course without any hope that these proposals will be considered by the Society and also without any hope that the State can wake up and seize that society and bring it to itself, telling it that for your hatred, I, the state, cannot remain indifferent to the colossal profits – exactly scandalous – that the master brings out of the people, just as I cannot stand idly by in front of the fact that the people eat the salt … wet and the Capital floats in darkness ! We have only one hope that, who knows, perhaps the devil will break his leg and the actionists of society, the vast majority of whom are conscientious, progressive people and do not tolerate the title of usufructuary, will one day impose themselves on the administration of society. to guide Sita from the path of development of the country, which is the Homeland, their home. We only have this hope and with this hope we are making these proposals.
For private lighting
But at the same time, kerosene must be removed from the press of the capital, and for this we must have every possibility (opportunity, our note), to help and impose Sita. We tried the very clear way that Sita counts as if I do all the complete installations for free. Today we say that the people of the capital do not have this claim. The capital is pleased that Sita is doing the same, as Stamles is doing. The interior installations of the houses, each owner does it himself because they do not cost much, there is an account and the opportunity to do it yourself. But Sita be forced to connect this installation to the distribution wire and also give the clocks for a 1 fr reward. gold for the connection and 0.50 centimeters of gold per month for renting the watch with the right that when the customer pays Sita the value of the watch, he does not rent it. That way Sita does not have to spend 450,000 fr. gold we said yesterday about the installations, but to dispose of only 50,000 fr. gold for the extension of the distribution wire and some 300,000 fr. gold for connections and clocks, and these accounts made abundantly. The profits will be the same, why all the houses will put electricity, why they will have interest.
Results
And now that our study of the state of Sita society is almost over, let us make a summary. We have proven that Sita can reserve to its shareholders the same profits that it has shared so far, lowering the prices of its producers and doing works that will make its name immortal. To do all this, the administration must first change its tactics and, instead of squandering, conduct a trade that is beneficial to the people. So, our proposals are:
- Salt prices will remain as they are, but Sita will be forced to organize agencies even in the centers of smaller municipalities. By paying revenge on agents and carriers and organizing a good check, he will gain the people to eat the salt without getting wet.
- Reduce electricity prices: for public lighting in gold samtim 40% for private lighting samtim ar 55 and industrial electricity in samtim 35.
- To illuminate with its expenses the Boulevard Zog I.
- To give up the right to connect and rent automatic watches.
- Make connections to the distribution wire for a fixed fee of 1 fr. gold and install free watches taking for the latter, in case the landlord will not buy it, 50 centimeters of gold per month as rent. But apart from these, of course, the society will not give up the illegal profits it has from … monopoly stamps, other guarantees …
Mavraqi: Here is how it can be illuminated on Boulevard Zog I I with 1000 francs
In his article published in the newspaper “Arbnia”, where the well-known journalist and publicist, Aleks Mavraqi attacked the company SITA- (which also owned the Tirana Power Plant), accusing it of illegal profits, he suggested to it to take over the lighting of the main Boulevard of Tirana (Zogu I-r), because according to him, for that the company would not have any big expenses. Regarding this, the journalist Mavraqi wrote: “We have spent so much money to make the magnificent Boulevard, to which we have given the appointment of the King of the Albanians. Each tile cost us almost a napoleon. We do not cry for money. May it be halal, because the work that was done is magnificent and so costly, we have it without light! The Municipality of the Capital not today, but even after 50 years will no longer be in a position to illuminate that Boulevard, because Sita demands the money of the world, based on the contract … Sita, with all of them, has won colossal sums, from the people of the Capital, so much so that today this people hate him immensely. If you became a plebiscite today – which was proposed to us – among the capitals there would not be even 10 people to vote in favor of the society in question! The hatred of the people against Sita is fully justified, why it has so far acted as a saraf and not as an economic organization for the good of the country. Now, he is given the opportunity to transform this hatred into an admiration. Do not ask the capitalists to do Sita free home installations. But it demands that Sita with its expenses complete the grandeur of the Boulevard that bears the name of the King of the Albanians. Do you remember that this is a big expense for Sita? Aspak! Here I speak with full authority, why I master the matter well. Two years ago, I ran the I.S.E.H. and the mayor Mr. Nepravishta had asked me for an offer for magnificent iron pillars for the lighting of the Boulevard. The Boulevard needs 110 pillars. These pillars with on-site installation, the I.S.E.H. took over 180 fr. ar one, making 19800 fr. ar. A thousand napoleons for Sita are nothing. Sita to date proven by its balance sheet has earned a total of 3,547,280 fr. gold, i.e. removing capital of 1,112,000 fr. ar plus 17% for seven years we accept as a logical profit – Industrial-trading companies in the other world earn only 4-7% – we are left with more than enough 1,112,000 fr. gold, making us 55,600 napoleons. Is it any great work now to spend a thousand napoleons to complete the Boulevard which bears the Name of our King, and which is an honor to the capital? We do not expect such an initiative from the administration of the Company, because they remember that the purpose of the company is to win as much as possible, but we expect this from the actionists, which they have a duty towards the country and themselves “! /Memorie.al
