CERTIFICATES ARE NOT SOLUTION
Armenuhi Minasyan
A1+
[01:14 pm] 13 December, 2007
The Government solves the problem of homeless people in Gyumri by
the program of Certificates for Buying Apartments.
63 homeless families were allocated certificates.
According to the Ministry of Urban Development, about 1 milliard 70
million drams is allotted from the state budget for the implementation
of the program for the current year. Within the frameworks of the
mentioned program, 256 certificates for buying apartments were
allocated to refugees and families that remained without shelter
after the earthquake. Many Gyumri residents state that they have
accepted the certificates for having no alternative. Many of them
return the certificates.
According to the law, the sum of the money in the certificates is
set up taking as a basis the average price of apartments in Gyumri
during the last three months. The experience of previous years
proves that the markets respond to this quickly, consequently the
costs of the apartments rise rapidly. Currently the amount mentioned
in the certificates does not correspond to the present price of
apartments. The number of families that are without refuge should be
revised as well. Their number changes each year.
Gyumri citizens do not buy apartments but their number is decreasing.
Today about 3972 homeless families live in Gyumri. If the problem
of these families is to be solved by the certificates for buying
apartments, then the optimistic promises of the authorities to release
the city from cottages will hardly be carried out in the coming soon.