01 November 2005, 19:44
Living conditions extremely poor in Grozny
Dwellers of four high rise buildings in Mayakovskogo in Grozny's Staropromyslovskii district complain of intolerable living conditions. Meanwhile, their problems are not handled either by representatives of the housing and utilities sector, nor by district or city authorities.
"The basements of our high rise buildings are flooded with water and sewerage," says Ruslanbek, 47, resident in one of the houses. "Sewers need to be cleared, but no work is under way. There is no heat, water and quality power supply in our flats. The voltage, especially now when it is cold, is very low. As for electricity, we have had to connect it by ourselves from nearby houses. In the evening, people cannot even switch on their TV sets or fridges, and children cannot actually do their home-work. Meanwhile, the housing and utilities department, the district administration, and the city government are doing nothing to change this situation which is not only our situation, but also that of practically all Grozny residents living in blocks of flats."
The district administration argues that they cannot take measures to solve the problems of dwellers of the blocks of flats in Mayakovskogo for objective reasons. "These include absence of special equipment designed to clear basements, an unsolved issue with Neftekhimprom ["Petrochemical Industry" - ed.] which is the owner of the power grid, but fails to transfer it to Grozelektroset ["Grozny Power Grid" - ed.], and many others," an official from the Staropromyslovskii district administration told Caucasian Knot's correspondent in a conversation. "Most importantly, of course, it is lack of good funding."
Author: Sultan Abubakarov, CK correspondent