Life in Kosovo discusses about emergency situations
Tonight, Life in Kosovo will broadcast a debate on the emergency situations in our country.
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Every Thursday starting from 20:30, Radio Television Kosovo, RTK, broadcasts the TV debate show "Life in Kosovo", a joint production of BIRN and RTK.
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Life in Kosovo discusses narcotics
05 February 2009 On this Life in Kosovo show, viewers heard about the sensitive topic of drug use and how narcotics are smuggled into schools, jails and other institutions in Kosovo.
How easy is it for Kosovans to buy drugs and who are the most frequent
users? What problems does Kosovo have with drug users? Why does the
government of Kosovo not have a strategy to fight this phenomenon?
To discuss these and other concerns, Muhamet Hajrullahu’s guests for the show were:
Nehat Mustafa – from the Ministry of Education;
Bahri Shala – from the anti-drug sector of the Kosovo Police Service;
Safet Blakaj – from Labyrinth organisation;
Xheraldina Pufja – parent and activist;
Selvie Izeti – psychologist;
Ardit Gashi – from the Forum for Citizen Initiatives;
The debate started with BIRN anchor Muhamet Hajrullahu focussing on the issue of drug-usage at schools.
Nehat
Mustafa, an official from the Ministry of Education, claimed that
because there were no narcotic cases reported, and no official evidence
to prove drugs were being smuggled into schools, the ministry could not
say whether a drug-problem existed.
He said that every time
the ministry receives a complaint, it immediately contacts the
education department of the relevant municipality and the headteacher,
and asks for an investigation to start.
An in-depth field report by BIRN journalist Fatmire Terdevci
revealed how drugs enter schools and other institutions, including
jails.
The story featured interviews and images of users and
ex-users, as well as statements from the Kosovo Police Service and
non-governmental organisations. The most shocking information came from
students from one of the schools that had been touched by drug usage,
Sami Frasheri High School in Pristina.
Contrary to headteacher
Osman Beka’s reports that there are no known cases of drug usage at the
school, two students told our journalist how marijuana was regularly
used and that cocaine abuse was a more recent trend.
The fact
that drugs enter jails and psychiatric hospitals, the institutions that
provide treatment for these addicts, also demonstrates the lack of
control on narcotics.
Xheraldina Pufja, a parent, shared her concerns after the show revealed of how widespread the problem had become.
She
said: “I am concerned that you as a representative from the ministry
say that the Ministry of Education does not react unless there is an
official confirmation of the case.”
Asked why drug usage in
schools was being ignored, Ardit Gashi, from the Forum for Citizen
Initiatives, said that the main reason was to protect the school’s
image.
“The only way to solve this problem is to have an
institutional mechanism that will deal with the cases and have
strategies for prevention,” said Ardit Gashi, adding that this has to
be from the Ministry of Education.
“There is a great tendency
from the heads of the schools to directly or indirectly deny the
phenomenon present in their schools, while the students are the only
ones that accept this reality,” said Selvie Izeti, psychologist, who
also revealed the results of a study she has conducted in a school
regarding drug usage.
Bahri Shala from the Kosovo Police Service
noted that a cooperation memorandum exists between the KPS and the
Ministry of Education which regulates the way in which the police can
tackle crime in schools.
“We have got several cases reported,
and statistics too, but the figures are not as high as they have been
assumed by the general public,” added Shala.
“Neither checking bags and installing CCTV systems, nor building new schools and banning school trips are the solutions.
We
need to build stronger parental structures within schools, which surely
are going to be more effective in preventing narcotic substances
entering schools,” noted Safet Blakaj, from the “Labyrinth”
organisation.
In the Culture in Kosovo section, Arif Muharremi
presented artists’ reactions to the selection of the board that will
appoint the head of the Kosovo Art Gallery.
The viewers were given the opportunity to watch fragments and comments on Delirium, a photography exhibition by Mimoza Veliu.
After the Kosovo’s Son-in-Law section, BIRN broadcasted the
municipal debate Jeta in Istog, whereJeta Xharra confronted Fadil
Ferati the mayor of this municipality.
Life in Kosovo is a co-production between Kosovo Public
Television, RTK and the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN.
It is broadcast every Thursday, starting at 20:20.
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