“EVERYTHING WILL BE O.K.”

Azat Artsakh – Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR)
6 Sept 04

On August 8 the elections to the municipal governments were held in the
Republic of Nagorni Karabakh. The mayor of Martouni Artem Avanessian
was reelected to his post. â^À^Ó Mr. Avanessian, at the August 8
elections to the municipalities the population of Martouni for the
third time voted for you. What programs did the city hall implement in
the past years and what planned works remained unfinished? â^À^Ó First
I would like to thank all the voters who supported me. My approach
towards the voters who did not vote for me is twice more responsible.
I state frankly that this fact makes me more obliged. In the past
years the city hall implemented certain work on which I presented
an account to my voters. One of the most important programs is, in
my opinion, the large investments made by the Catholic Aid Service
in the system of water supply, which enabled us to have a modern
infrastructure. We only have to solve the problems of increasing
and economizing water resources after which 24-hour water supply
in Martouni will become real. We managed to regulate the drainage
system in a number of central streets, repair many streets, restore
the lighting system in seven streets, build sewage. Other works were
implemented, including building of fences, repairs in parks, planting
trees. Of the international organizations we are in close cooperation
with the Armenian Evangelist Association which implements 4 programs in
Martouni simultaneously. We have a cooperation agreement with the town
Martouni in the region of Gegharkunik, Republic of Armenia signed by
the community councils. Now about unfinished programs. These are also
many. The problem of housing is urgent, the rate of unemployment is
high, many streets need repairs, we have the problem of poor families,
we do not have a memorial to the victims of the war. However, I want
to mention that a greater part of these problems will be solved in
the near future. â^À^Ó What new ideas are there in your future plans
and what ways are there for their fulfillment? â^À^Ó The ideas are
very many, and the way of fulfillment is one â^À^Ó solution of the
problem of financing. Note that in 2003 the city hall for the first
time implemented budget receipts by 102 per cent, which enabled us to
implement all the planned works of repairs. This year also there are
prospects to provide budget receipts, which will enable us to make
larger investments for developing infrastructures in the town. We
have the problems of road repairs, street lighting, refuse collecting,
greenery, cultural and sports events, youth recreation. â^À^Ó Probably
there are difficulties also in implementation of programs. In your
opinion, which is the most effective solution to overcome it? â^À^Ó
I cannot see any difficulties because there is political will, there
are people who know what they are doing, the moral and psychological
atmosphere in the town and the region is healthy, and it only takes
active involvement in the process of program implementation. â^À^Ó
What is done for the construction of the memorial to the victims of
the Artsakh war? â^À^Ó This year due to our colleague A. Suleimanian
and me the foundation â^À^ÜMartouniâ^À^Ý was set up one of the first
aims of which is the construction of the memorial complex. The board
of trustees of the foundation has 7 members, an executive director,
a bank account where the financial means will be accumulated. There are
also other social, cultural and building programs which will be brought
into being if everything goes on well. We have great expectations
of the new construction. We must try to make it a place for bringing
together the mental and financial potential of our people. â^À^Ó What
did the privatization of land mean for the people of Martouni? â^À^Ó At
the beginning of 1999 according to the corresponding decision of the
government land was privatized. First it must be mentioned that as
different from other communities of the region the people of Martouni
were psychologically much less ready for taking up farming as in soviet
years very few of them were included in the local collective farm. The
major part of the population were officials and could not farm the
land. Today the private farmers have already acquired certain skills,
and a considerable part of the people of Martouni deal with their
plot with responsibility. Hundreds of families successfully work
their land and get income. I must say that this year for the first
time tens of families expressed wish to take part in the privatization
process and receive their own plot of farming land. Nevertheless, they
face certain difficulties while farming, which is mainly the lack of
machinery. There is not a sufficient number of tractors, combines,
therefore tillage, sowing, harvesting is not always carried out in
time, especially that in the past two years the area of farming land
has increased. In this reference serious work is to be carried out
to prevent problems during the next harvest. â^À^Ó What would you wish
to the people of Martouni? â^À^Ó First I want to thank them again for
electing me to the post of the head of the community of Martouni for
the third time. I assure that I will do my best to live up to their
expectations. The inhabitants of our town went through hardships
and managed to preserve the honour of our town during the Artsakh
war. I wish health to the people of Martouni. I wish all of us were
positive towards one another, did not ignore national undertakings
pursuing temporary interests and lived dignified lives. Let there be
smile on our faces. I also congratulate on the Day of Independence
of the Republic. It is clear that everything is not the way we would
like them to be. But in which young state are the problems solved
by a single strike of the magic stick? I am optimistic, it takes a
little patience and I am sure everything will be O.K. This belief of
mine is sufficiently grounded by the dynamic growth of the economy,
the step by step rising quality of life and the growing international
rating of our newly independent republic.

R. GHUKASSIAN.
06-09-2004