IDEA ITSELF IS NONSENSE
By Gegham Qyurumian
AZG Armenian Daily
28/09/2006
The 3d Armenia-Diaspora-2006 forum set a main purpose of improving
rural infrastructures and stopping population flow from villages. The
idea to settle problems of the villages by reconstructing schools
and clinics is just a simple example of manifestation of the best
wishes. To prove the point I’ll remind of a number of slaughterhouses
in villages built on tens of thousand US dollars. When they were built
on Diaspora’s money and were officially opened officials trumpeted
that they were designed to bring relief to villagers. Absurdly enough,
agriculture representatives today ask each other if anyone has ever
seen a single calf in these slaughterhouses.
Those buildings doomed to idleness give a hint that a similar
fate awaits other rural infrastructures as it is not due to their
absence that rural residents leave the villages but due to absence
of necessary means to buy clothes and stationery for their children
to go to school. But there was no such item on the forum’s agenda. It
is the extremely low productivity of Armenian farmers’ work that puts
them on the edge of immigration.
The forum did not touch upon this situation but instead set a goal
of increasing the rural population by one in each village. Authors
of the project should be informed that in 15 rural communities out
of 24 selected growth of population has been recorded, according
to population census of 2001. According to the forum’s glamorous
"Eliminating Rural Poverty" magazine, Getik village of Gugharkunik
region, for one, has 530 residents whereas the census of 2001 has
counted 471 people. Jrap village of Shirak region in 2001 had a
population of 784 people, but according to the magazine this number
is 1051. This situation can be explained by the return of municipal
population to their roots to try to somehow keep body and soul together
in the village. It was necessary that the forum of powerful people
raised the issue of overcoming this situation.
Anyone acquainted with the very day life of Armenia will testify that
2/3 of goods that we consume is an import that reaches to 1 billion
USD. The interest of some of high-ranking officials to see a market
full of imports can be understood. But one cannot understand why the
officials neglect the possibility to solve country’s problems by the
work of Armenian farmers.