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POOR FAMILY REFUSED SOCIAL HOUSING BECAUSE IT ATTENDS OPPOSITION RALLIES - PHOTOS & VIDEO
01.23.2014 18:43 epress.am
The poverty-stricken family at house number 30 on street number 1
in Nerkin Shengavit (in the Shengavit administrative district of
Yerevan) was deprived of an apartment provided to it by law because
the family is pro-opposition and attends opposition rallies, Flora
Torosyan informed the Epress.am correspondent who visited the family
in their home.
Torosyan lives in the ramshackle house lacking basic conditions
with her only son, Harutyun Kishmiryan, his wife, and their 5 young
children. Rats and a variety of insects, she says, not only damage
the damp, crumbling walls and wood flooring, but also from time to
time bite the children when they're sleeping. Torosyan says the house
left from her parents belongs to her brother, who years ago provided
it to them as temporary shelter but is now asking them to leave.
Torosyan claims that one of her 6 grandchildren died because of
doctors' negligence and indifference, while conditions are not enough
to meet the needs of the remaining 5 - her monthly pension of 51,000
AMD (about $125 USD) is only enough to pay the utility bills.
On the matter of an apartment, the family's matriarch appealed to
current president Serzh Sargsyan during his election campaign, though
to no avail.
"I also sent a letter during [Yerevan Mayor] Taron [Margaryan's]
inauguration; I also appealed to the Shengavit district office. A
[district office] employee came and looked at the house. I said,
'See, Hasmik, it's tight; the children have no place to sleep; the
rats run around the house, bite the children.' You should've seen the
disgust on her face, like 'Who asked you to have so many children,
that now you want a house from us? Are you having children on our
account?' I contacted the new district leader; I got a letter during
elections saying 'you have to vote for us.' I said, I won't vote for
any of you; if a house due [to us] by law is being given by a bribe,
we don't need it," said Torosyan.
She contacted the district leader with a request to repair the
collapsed roof, who gave only 15 of the 20 tin sheets he signed out
to the needy family.
"The employee of the district office's utilities department, Hasmik,
saw that there's no room to move in the house - she told my son to
have the children sleep with him. I never heard of such a thing: a 11-,
10-, or 9 year-old child sleeping [in the same bed] with his parents,"
complained Torosyan.
Torosyan claims the letters she received from the municipality and
the presidential administration state that her family is the first on
the list of needy families; thus, the family should've received an
apartment by the end of 2013. "Last year, they wrote from city hall
that the first apartment will be provided to us; [Armenian Prime
Minister] Tigran Sargsyan was to sign the decree in November. Now
they say that we're opposition and that's why we've lost our place
in the waiting list," she said.
Torosyan's son stressed that the district's Republican Party of Armenia
members and some Yerevan Municipal Council members on several occasions
threatened him and warned him to think about his family and children
before going to opposition rallies and protesting. "They say, come,
become Republican [Party of Armenia member]; we'll solve the issue of
the apartment - they don't think about the fact that the apartment
is due to me by law. During the [Karabakh] War veterans' rally, two
scoundrels - [Yerevan] Municipal Council members - came and told me
not to participate, not to protest. I said I want my home. And they
said: 'Brother, it's a serious matter; since you understand so much,
come stand beside us, we'll take care of you.' I'm not a traitor to
the nation, for me to become Republican and say, 'Forward, Armenia'
or 'Safe Armenia [the ruling party's slogans during the presidential
and parliamentary elections]'," said Kishmiryan.
Asked by Epress.am in writing whether Kishmiryan's family is in
the list of needy families and is registered to get an apartment,
Yerevan City Hall's Real Estate Management Department staff said the
family is included in the RA Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs'
Paros social assistance program.
"The procedure for providing shelter and other social services and
registering individuals (families) considered socially disadvantaged
and special groups needing accommodation and the list of individuals
considered socially disadvantaged and special groups having the right
to receive accommodation was approved at the Aug. 1, 2013 RA Government
meeting. As a socially disadvantaged family with many children, their
housing issue can be discussed at the RA Ministry of Labor and Social
Affairs. At the same time, the RA Ministry of Urban Development is
working on a strategic plan to develop a social housing fund, which,
after being adopted, in the case of a respective housing fund being
created, will make it possible to discuss the problems of families
in need of better housing conditions," reads the letter from Yerevan
City Hall.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMqJl9SN7BY
http://www.epress.am/en/2014/01/23/poor-family-refused-social-housing-because-it-attends-opposition-rallies.html
01.23.2014 18:43 epress.am
The poverty-stricken family at house number 30 on street number 1
in Nerkin Shengavit (in the Shengavit administrative district of
Yerevan) was deprived of an apartment provided to it by law because
the family is pro-opposition and attends opposition rallies, Flora
Torosyan informed the Epress.am correspondent who visited the family
in their home.
Torosyan lives in the ramshackle house lacking basic conditions
with her only son, Harutyun Kishmiryan, his wife, and their 5 young
children. Rats and a variety of insects, she says, not only damage
the damp, crumbling walls and wood flooring, but also from time to
time bite the children when they're sleeping. Torosyan says the house
left from her parents belongs to her brother, who years ago provided
it to them as temporary shelter but is now asking them to leave.
Torosyan claims that one of her 6 grandchildren died because of
doctors' negligence and indifference, while conditions are not enough
to meet the needs of the remaining 5 - her monthly pension of 51,000
AMD (about $125 USD) is only enough to pay the utility bills.
On the matter of an apartment, the family's matriarch appealed to
current president Serzh Sargsyan during his election campaign, though
to no avail.
"I also sent a letter during [Yerevan Mayor] Taron [Margaryan's]
inauguration; I also appealed to the Shengavit district office. A
[district office] employee came and looked at the house. I said,
'See, Hasmik, it's tight; the children have no place to sleep; the
rats run around the house, bite the children.' You should've seen the
disgust on her face, like 'Who asked you to have so many children,
that now you want a house from us? Are you having children on our
account?' I contacted the new district leader; I got a letter during
elections saying 'you have to vote for us.' I said, I won't vote for
any of you; if a house due [to us] by law is being given by a bribe,
we don't need it," said Torosyan.
She contacted the district leader with a request to repair the
collapsed roof, who gave only 15 of the 20 tin sheets he signed out
to the needy family.
"The employee of the district office's utilities department, Hasmik,
saw that there's no room to move in the house - she told my son to
have the children sleep with him. I never heard of such a thing: a 11-,
10-, or 9 year-old child sleeping [in the same bed] with his parents,"
complained Torosyan.
Torosyan claims the letters she received from the municipality and
the presidential administration state that her family is the first on
the list of needy families; thus, the family should've received an
apartment by the end of 2013. "Last year, they wrote from city hall
that the first apartment will be provided to us; [Armenian Prime
Minister] Tigran Sargsyan was to sign the decree in November. Now
they say that we're opposition and that's why we've lost our place
in the waiting list," she said.
Torosyan's son stressed that the district's Republican Party of Armenia
members and some Yerevan Municipal Council members on several occasions
threatened him and warned him to think about his family and children
before going to opposition rallies and protesting. "They say, come,
become Republican [Party of Armenia member]; we'll solve the issue of
the apartment - they don't think about the fact that the apartment
is due to me by law. During the [Karabakh] War veterans' rally, two
scoundrels - [Yerevan] Municipal Council members - came and told me
not to participate, not to protest. I said I want my home. And they
said: 'Brother, it's a serious matter; since you understand so much,
come stand beside us, we'll take care of you.' I'm not a traitor to
the nation, for me to become Republican and say, 'Forward, Armenia'
or 'Safe Armenia [the ruling party's slogans during the presidential
and parliamentary elections]'," said Kishmiryan.
Asked by Epress.am in writing whether Kishmiryan's family is in
the list of needy families and is registered to get an apartment,
Yerevan City Hall's Real Estate Management Department staff said the
family is included in the RA Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs'
Paros social assistance program.
"The procedure for providing shelter and other social services and
registering individuals (families) considered socially disadvantaged
and special groups needing accommodation and the list of individuals
considered socially disadvantaged and special groups having the right
to receive accommodation was approved at the Aug. 1, 2013 RA Government
meeting. As a socially disadvantaged family with many children, their
housing issue can be discussed at the RA Ministry of Labor and Social
Affairs. At the same time, the RA Ministry of Urban Development is
working on a strategic plan to develop a social housing fund, which,
after being adopted, in the case of a respective housing fund being
created, will make it possible to discuss the problems of families
in need of better housing conditions," reads the letter from Yerevan
City Hall.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMqJl9SN7BY
http://www.epress.am/en/2014/01/23/poor-family-refused-social-housing-because-it-attends-opposition-rallies.html