Statement of Kura Staff on Corruption in the Area of Natural Disasters in Azerbaijan

The headquarters of the civil society Kura made a statement on September 7 in connection with the situation in the flood zones of 2010 and the earthquake zone of 2012.

   The document states: "More than two years have passed since flooding in the Kura and Araks rivers in the spring of 2010. More than 460 million manat have been allocated from the state budget for eliminating the consequences of the flood. Despite a number of houses, social facilities, and compensation allocated for victims, the amount of work done in this area is not adequate for the allotted finances. Today, hundreds of people complain that their houses have not been repaired, they were not given a new home, have not received fair compensation, and that they are being discriminated against by the government agencies involved.  Trial on the claim of 96 of 128 people, consider the decision of the government commission unfair, but the work of two people have been sent to the European Court of Human Rights.

One of the main problems, attracting attention in the liquidation of the consequences of floods in Kura and Ajax  rivers is that the involved agencies, including the Ministry of Emergency Situations (MES) and local executive authorities, do not provide transparency or allow public scrutiny about spending funds allocated from the state budget. Recommendations from the Civil Society "Kura" on involving the local communities and civil society to participate in the work of the local committees and the management of complaints, are not considered.

Local police many times prevented the headquarters of Kura to hold events, meetings with affected residents and monitoring.  The lawsuit against the Staff Coordinator, Oktay Gyulalyev, illegally arrested for 2.5 months, and who is now under house arrest and police surveillance, has not been closed yet. Other activists of the Kura Civil Society, Ilham Amiraslanov and Mirabad Rzayev, being slandered, were also arrested, and are being unlawfully kept in prison.  For some time now, we can say officially, the headquarters of the Civil Society "Kura", the only structure operating in the area of flooding, is not allowed to work in this region.

One of the biggest problems associated with flooding of the Kura and the Araz rivers, is the absence of a final, detailed report of the involved structures and the disbursement of more than 460 million manat for the works done in this direction. But the most unfortunate is the uncertainty of the fate of 50 million manat allocated by the president of the country on March 29 of this year. In general, despite the allocation of these funds, no works are going on after the recent floods in the area. Contrary to a recent resolution adopted by the Cabinet of Ministers, without giving any reason, the issue of compensation for refurbishment works of 1700 houses, was suspended. 

Ministry of Emergency Situations (MES), directly responsible for the flood, breaking the existing laws, refusing to cooperate with the civil society, prefers completely closed and non-transparent activities. Despite repeated appeals, during the last two years, the MES does not provide any information on the amount of funding allocated for the construction of houses in the flood, the amount of wages issued to employees, and the cost of purchased materials for construction. Misrepresenting itself indicates serious corruption.

The official website of the Ministry of Emergency Situations does not post any data related to the work carried out in the flooded area. The last time such information was posted was on January 1, and was of a general nature.

Involved structures and officials show negligence, lawlessness, partiality, robbery, and other negatives in the liquidation of the earthquake that occurred in May 2012 in the Gakh-Zagatala region. We regret to note that the investigations carried out by the Staff of the Civil Society "Kura", revealed many more serious illegalities than in the earthquake area in Zagatala region, which is located far away from Baku.

    It is regrettable that in the liquidation of the consequences of the earthquake, the companies involved are close to persons represented in the leadership of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, which are regarded by the public as non-transparent and corrupt structures, and which joined this process without any tender or competition. It was revealed also that the people affected by the earthquake have been abandoned to their fate. Despite the coming of cold weather, many people still live in tents, and there is no guarantee that they will not spend the coming winter in tents again. In addition, for the entire period after the earthquake, these people are not provided with a proper level of food and warm clothing. 

People have lost their homes, and despite promises from the state, they have not received primary care or compensation; though some time after the earthquake, on the initiative and direction of the president of the state, 300 million manat have been allocated from the state budget to solve all problems of the affected people. We regret to note that the order on the liquidation of the consequences of the earthquake, as well as document № 197s of July 09, 2010, and other orders of the Cabinet of Ministers are withheld from the public. The victims and the public are not informed of what works should be done and how much money has been allocated for this purpose. In the Gakh-Zagatala region, local people are also in the information blockade.

Staff of Civil Society "Kura" once again wants to draw attention to the problems in the Kura-Araz and Gakh-Zagatala regions, and calls on the appropriate structures and the government to take the following steps:

1.  to resolve problems associated with floods of the Kura river, to restore the destroyed infrastructure, to inspect again with bias homes of displaced people;

2.  to provide the public with a detailed report on the use of more than 460 million manat allocated due to the floods, and on progress in these areas;

3.  to provide the public with information on the liquidation the consequences of the earthquake in Gakh-Zagatala, on companies that perform these works, the adopted decisions and orders; on allocated financial resources, purposes of their use, etc.;

4.  to provide different NGOs, including the staff of a civil society "Kura", with opportunity to study problems existing in the regions of the Kura-Araz and Gakh-Zagatala regions, and conduct monitoring.

September 5, 2012, Baku city" --0--