PEOPLE HOPE TO GET APARTMENTS

Azat Artsakh Daily – Nagorno Karabakh Republic [NKR]
08-02-2007

Last year, according to the Ministry of Urban Planning, a block of 13
apartments was built. Another building with 21 apartments is under
construction on Tigran Mets Street. Soon construction of the block
with 45 apartments on Tumanian Street will finish. According to the
City Hall, 1163 people are still waiting to get an apartment. In
addition, people have been registered since 1960s. Davit Tsaturian, a
senior City Hall official, says people still hope to get an
apartment. Another 30 people were registered in 2006. According to
him, over the past few years several people received apartments who
were included in the special program because a member of their family
was killed or became disabled in the war, the Azat Artsakh writes. The
190 families of killed azatamartiks and 208 families of the disabled
of the war in Artsakh are included in the special register. In 2006
another 65 families added. According to the City Hall, last year 10
received apartments. Yet another group includes residents of
dismantled blocks, who were not provided with apartments. Davit
Tsaturian says the government has launched a policy in 2005 on
providing parentless children aged 18 and down with apartments. 22
children will be provided with apartments. Last year 3 of them got
one-room apartments for ten years. The state of dormitories poor. The
media have reported on the grim picture of dormitories for a number of
times. We visited two dormitories where rats are running in the
corridors, the walls are humid and moldy, electric lines are damaged,
sanitation is poor. The dormitories have no gas supply considering all
these problems. The problems has been discussed at different levels,
and on every visit of the representatives of government the residents
think their problems will be solved soon. Davit Tsaturian said the
community has 7 dormitories, where privatization started from 2006. 15
families have already privatized their apartments. The department of
housing admits that the state of the residents of dormitories is poor
but they say the government should attend to this problem. Meanwhile,
the solution of this problem is not visible; there is no definite
policy, said the housing department.

SRBUHI VANIAN.
08-02-2007