The religious communities ask Berisha to block the building of the casino

MJAFT

28 October 2005

The Muslim, Catholic and Orthodox Church communities of Albania asked the prime minister Berisha to block the construction of the casino in downtown Tirana, and proposed a new legislation regarding this issue, which, aside from respecting the freedom of initiating such activities, should also take into account the welfare of the citizens and safeguard their interests.

The religious communities made this request on Tuesday through a letter addressed to the Prime Minister Berisha, informing also the President of the Republic Alfred Moisiu and the Minister of Finances, Ridvan Bode. The letter was signed by Haxhi Hafiz Selim Muca on behalf of the Muslim Community, by Monsignor Rrok Mirdita on behalf of the Catholic Church and by Archbishop Anastasi on behalf of the Orthodox Church.

In the letter, the highest representatives of the religious communities of the country expressed their conviction that �a casino in the centre of the city will become a dangerous place, where not only the gambling victims will loose their money, but also the family core will be weakened, the social crises will potentially grow and this will be a destructive competitor of the cultural activities with an educational purpose, which are already weak in our country�.

The open debate about this casino, gave the representatives of the religious communities in Albania the opportunity to express their concern even about what they called in the letter addressed to the prime minister the �mini-casinos found in every corner of the capital and other cities of Albania �.

�We are convinced�, stressed this letter, �that these mini-casinos deepen not only the material poverty of the Albanian citizens, but also the spiritual one�.

This initiative of the religious communities in Albania comes as a result of the MJAFT! Movement attempts to stop the building of this casino. The movement organized another public debate to discuss this matter with the most important actors of the civil society. Representatives of the religious communities in Albania were also invited, and they agreed to coordinate their future moves with the civil society organizations.