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Eight Member Family Squeezed Into One Dormitory Room While 2nd Floor is Empty
Marine Madatyan
hetq
16:10, October 4, 2012
For the past four years, Ashot and Marieta and their six children have
been living in a cramped one room in a dormitory in Hrazdan.
Marieta is expecting another child in a few weeks. She doesn't know
how they will continue to cope.
The family's only furniture consists of two beds, which take up most
of the room, a small table and a TV. When you enter, there's hardly
any room to move around.
When I visited, I noticed that there weren't any residents on the
dorm's second floor. I knocked on all the doors and no one answered.
Ashot and Marieta say they have filed numerous requests for additional
space, but to no avail. They've even wrote to President Sargsyan about
their situation.
"They answered that we should apply to the Regional Authority
(Marzpetaran), but we've already done so. They had sent us to the
Hrazdan Municipality. They promised to help us out but nothing has
happened," Marieta says.
What the municipality has done is to send four of the kids to a
boarding school in Byureghavan.
Marieta says she misses her children but at least they're now living
in normal conditions.
"We visit them when we have enough money for the trip," she tells me.
The local parish priest sends the family a daily meal, for which the
family is thankful.
Ashot, who suffers from epilepsy, says he gets construction work every
few days and can make about $10 a day. The family's main income is the
61,000 monthly AMD in child assistance.
Ashot says that the municipality promised to send someone to check the
dormitory for empty rooms.
"So far, no one has come to inspect the place. There are many empty
rooms here," he says.
Shota Khachatryan, from the municipality's housing stock department,
told Hetq that the dorm is private property and that management must
allocate additional rooms. He also said that there weren't any free
rooms to allocate.
When I told him about the empty rooms on the second floor, Khachatryan
replied that they belong to former company employees who have
padlocked the rooms and have left the area.
I then asked if it was possible to unlock one of the empty rooms and
allocate it to the family.
"Let them come to my office and we'll discuss the matter. We would
have to reach an agreement with the owners. They should come with a
specific number of an empty room. I'll then make a proposal to the
owners."
Marine Madatyan
hetq
16:10, October 4, 2012
For the past four years, Ashot and Marieta and their six children have
been living in a cramped one room in a dormitory in Hrazdan.
Marieta is expecting another child in a few weeks. She doesn't know
how they will continue to cope.
The family's only furniture consists of two beds, which take up most
of the room, a small table and a TV. When you enter, there's hardly
any room to move around.
When I visited, I noticed that there weren't any residents on the
dorm's second floor. I knocked on all the doors and no one answered.
Ashot and Marieta say they have filed numerous requests for additional
space, but to no avail. They've even wrote to President Sargsyan about
their situation.
"They answered that we should apply to the Regional Authority
(Marzpetaran), but we've already done so. They had sent us to the
Hrazdan Municipality. They promised to help us out but nothing has
happened," Marieta says.
What the municipality has done is to send four of the kids to a
boarding school in Byureghavan.
Marieta says she misses her children but at least they're now living
in normal conditions.
"We visit them when we have enough money for the trip," she tells me.
The local parish priest sends the family a daily meal, for which the
family is thankful.
Ashot, who suffers from epilepsy, says he gets construction work every
few days and can make about $10 a day. The family's main income is the
61,000 monthly AMD in child assistance.
Ashot says that the municipality promised to send someone to check the
dormitory for empty rooms.
"So far, no one has come to inspect the place. There are many empty
rooms here," he says.
Shota Khachatryan, from the municipality's housing stock department,
told Hetq that the dorm is private property and that management must
allocate additional rooms. He also said that there weren't any free
rooms to allocate.
When I told him about the empty rooms on the second floor, Khachatryan
replied that they belong to former company employees who have
padlocked the rooms and have left the area.
I then asked if it was possible to unlock one of the empty rooms and
allocate it to the family.
"Let them come to my office and we'll discuss the matter. We would
have to reach an agreement with the owners. They should come with a
specific number of an empty room. I'll then make a proposal to the
owners."