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PUBLIC TOILETS IN GORIS; USAID FUNDS FLUSHED DOWN THE DRAIN?
hetq
12:02, February 24, 2012
Here's another story highlighting a good project gone sour. It has
to do with the USAID funded public toilets in the southern Armenian
town of Goris.
Even though it was built in 2007 with USAID support, the restrooms
don't work. I wanted to find out why.
My first stop was the Goris Municipality. The toilet is located in
a park that is municipal land.
I spoke with Gagik Hayrapetyan, who heads the Municipality's Staff
Office. He was the one who told me about the USAID's participation
in the constriction of the restrooms along with installing trash
receptacles in Goris.
Mr. Hayrapetyan suggested that I go and speak with Argady Mardyan,
Director of the Gusan Ashot Cultural Center. The Center manages the
park where the toilets are located.
So far so good.
Mr. Mardyan told me he had nothing to do with operating the public
restrooms.
"What does culture have in common with toilets?" he exclaimed. "We all
know that the Cultural Center is a municipal body whose activities are
supervised by the mayor's office. True, the restrooms are located in
the park but since they were built the municipality has yet to create
an employment position to run the toilets."
In essence, dear readers, the restrooms have never been opened to
the public because the municipality has never hired an attendant to
service them. I guess this makes sense in a weird sort of way.
But Mardyan's argument doesn't jive with the USAID's projections
as set out in the "BRIDGE" project that envisaged the creation of
15 new jobs in Goris (2 gardeners, 3 cleaners, 4 technical aides,
6 attendants to be paid from park revenues). Today, the municipality
hires out 7 individuals to manage the park.
The Project also mandated that the Goris Municipality take over
management of the park from the cultural center and that it draft a
plan of cultural and sports activities.
Mardyan said that the toilets used to operate in the past on a
sporadic basis. It depended on when they could find people willing
to do the job.
He told me that the town was now ready to hire someone willing to work
and get paid based on the number of people using the toilets at 50
AMD a visit. The town would pay the electric and water expenses. The
attendant however, would have to pay for two rolls of toilet paper
a day from his or her own pocket.
"If there is anyone willing to work under these conditions, I am
ready to present them with this restroom as a gift," exclaimed Mardyan.
He told me that a public restroom operate din the park years ago but
nobody used it.
"People would do their business under the trees, not in the restroom,
even though it was free. It's a question of our mentality."
Mardyan complained that people urinate on the steps leading to the
cultural center and that staff have to wash the area down with several
buckets of water.
"The place stinks terribly in the summer. This is how locals treat
the cultural center. Don't you think I want those restrooms to operate
normally?" said an exasperated Mardyan.
When I asked, Mardyan said the restrooms were in good shape with
round the clock water.
At the end of our talk, Mardyan said he hoped that on my next visit
the restroom would be up and running so that we could discuss something
more pleasant; say on a cultural level.
I finally got a chance to speak to Goris Mayor Nelson Voskayan.
When I asked him whether it would be preferable to create a permanent
job position of restroom attendant/manager, with a stable salary,
Voskayan shook his head.
"From a financial point of view, operating the toilets remains an
important but difficult matter. Repair work will commence in the summer
and we'll adopt some new approaches to resolve this sad chapter."
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
hetq
12:02, February 24, 2012
Here's another story highlighting a good project gone sour. It has
to do with the USAID funded public toilets in the southern Armenian
town of Goris.
Even though it was built in 2007 with USAID support, the restrooms
don't work. I wanted to find out why.
My first stop was the Goris Municipality. The toilet is located in
a park that is municipal land.
I spoke with Gagik Hayrapetyan, who heads the Municipality's Staff
Office. He was the one who told me about the USAID's participation
in the constriction of the restrooms along with installing trash
receptacles in Goris.
Mr. Hayrapetyan suggested that I go and speak with Argady Mardyan,
Director of the Gusan Ashot Cultural Center. The Center manages the
park where the toilets are located.
So far so good.
Mr. Mardyan told me he had nothing to do with operating the public
restrooms.
"What does culture have in common with toilets?" he exclaimed. "We all
know that the Cultural Center is a municipal body whose activities are
supervised by the mayor's office. True, the restrooms are located in
the park but since they were built the municipality has yet to create
an employment position to run the toilets."
In essence, dear readers, the restrooms have never been opened to
the public because the municipality has never hired an attendant to
service them. I guess this makes sense in a weird sort of way.
But Mardyan's argument doesn't jive with the USAID's projections
as set out in the "BRIDGE" project that envisaged the creation of
15 new jobs in Goris (2 gardeners, 3 cleaners, 4 technical aides,
6 attendants to be paid from park revenues). Today, the municipality
hires out 7 individuals to manage the park.
The Project also mandated that the Goris Municipality take over
management of the park from the cultural center and that it draft a
plan of cultural and sports activities.
Mardyan said that the toilets used to operate in the past on a
sporadic basis. It depended on when they could find people willing
to do the job.
He told me that the town was now ready to hire someone willing to work
and get paid based on the number of people using the toilets at 50
AMD a visit. The town would pay the electric and water expenses. The
attendant however, would have to pay for two rolls of toilet paper
a day from his or her own pocket.
"If there is anyone willing to work under these conditions, I am
ready to present them with this restroom as a gift," exclaimed Mardyan.
He told me that a public restroom operate din the park years ago but
nobody used it.
"People would do their business under the trees, not in the restroom,
even though it was free. It's a question of our mentality."
Mardyan complained that people urinate on the steps leading to the
cultural center and that staff have to wash the area down with several
buckets of water.
"The place stinks terribly in the summer. This is how locals treat
the cultural center. Don't you think I want those restrooms to operate
normally?" said an exasperated Mardyan.
When I asked, Mardyan said the restrooms were in good shape with
round the clock water.
At the end of our talk, Mardyan said he hoped that on my next visit
the restroom would be up and running so that we could discuss something
more pleasant; say on a cultural level.
I finally got a chance to speak to Goris Mayor Nelson Voskayan.
When I asked him whether it would be preferable to create a permanent
job position of restroom attendant/manager, with a stable salary,
Voskayan shook his head.
"From a financial point of view, operating the toilets remains an
important but difficult matter. Repair work will commence in the summer
and we'll adopt some new approaches to resolve this sad chapter."
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress