THE KURA CONSTRICTION

President Ilham Aliyev visited new villages "Yeni Novruzlu" in Saatly district and `Telishly` in Imishly district constructed for the persons hit by the flood. He got familiar with new residents and had a talk with the locals in course of which they expressed gratitude for the state care.
Probably it would a headline for the state-run newspapers reporting on a visit of the president to Sabirabad and Imishly.
But now a construction of new settlements is under way. Hastily trail specially for the president on potholes a kilometer asphalt, as a carpet path from a central road to a building site. Further the road is worse than ever, but no one cares it. Everybody rushes to complete a work for the arrival of the head of state. All terms are expired, because construction should finish till the end of October, but it won`t come to the end. Just a few " the Potyomkin" houses will be shown for the president most likely arranged with furniture.
In Yeni Novruzlu a construction of 170 two- and three-room houses with average area of 80 sq.m., and in Telishly - 104 separate houses is progressing. An official information on the project estimate and cost of houses is unavailable. The Ministry of Emergency has classified this data. But according to local sources involved in the building, a price for the two-room house - 38 thousand маnats, for the three-room one - 45 thousand маnats.
Conversation with builders, a review of the works, a low quality of building materials indicate that cost of the houses is overestimated three times. Only from a construction of 170 houses could be misappropriated nearly 5 million маnats. A considerable sum of public funds will move to pockets of chiefs of low and high level, after their write-off for infrastructural works.
But it"s only a part of problem. It is quite possible to name the newly-constructed houses the hybrid ones. It is a mix of urban cottage and classical, not good Azerbaijani rural house. What is urban? Just a facade. There is no a hall, kitchen, water line, system of sewerage, heating and even gasification. An asian toilet and strange building in 15 meters from house and also water source.
Area of each house consists from 6 hundred parts, is fenced by an iron grid. It is impossible to run a farm on this territory. Novruzlu residents, which are about to move to these houses, call them `military camp`. `We have no intentions to move to these, so-called, homes. We can"t leave our gardens, kitchen gardens, cattle and how we will live in this small town?`,- asks the village resident Jalal Suleymanov.
There are 120 houses and 30 land areas in village, which members of state commission on flooding also have noted as homes. Initially the residents were threatened with forcing removing. But when this attempt failed they were offered to agree on removing and in addition to continue to use old houses and sites. This is only to report to the president that works are implemented and people moved. Of course, the local peasants don`t trust assurances of officials.
In the first days of floods, on May 7, at the governmental meeting president Ilham Aliyev from someone`s filing said that money for restoration of houses will not allocated to victims because peasants would construct once again the poor-quality houses of clay. "We will construct them ourselves ", he said.
But does the state built for them ever homes. They built homes own hands at own expense earned slave labor on farm plantations. Many of these houses have stood and currently require insignificant repair money, but which is unavailable for them because al lack of trust.
The president also declared that new settlements will be constructed and all the Kura villages will be moved. As you penetrate into a chain of subsequent events, you ask a simple question: "Who slipped him the idea and for what purpose?". The strange situation over construction sheds a light on this secret decision. Let"s remind - the first MP who revealed a cost of damage was Gudrat Huseynguliyev - 400 million mantas. The government got 300 million and then transferred the most part of these resources to further order to the Ministry of Emergency. Later under pretext of necessity of rapid building, and violating a legislation, all contracts have been transferred to close relatives and business-partners of the minister of Emenrgency Kamaladdin Heydarov. The huge machine of misappropriate of money is powered.
What has turned out from this? Under construction houses don`t meet to international standards, public funds are plundered, many victims are denied in construction of new houses and restoration of homes hit by water. Tens thousand of people can"t get a small compensation for homes, yield losses, property. But the Ministry of Emergency already reports over spending of 45 million маnats from 202 million allocated for building and resettlement.
Village Novruzlu of Saatly as well as the neighbouring Sabirabad villages of Gasymbeyli, Askerbeyli have been hit by flood as a result of rupture of a dam of Sarysu lake from local officials under a pretext to avoid flooding of Saatly. But the locals don`t agree with this version and think that the real aim was to seize the loams. This view also share by residents of Uludzhaly, which is under a threat of moving due to "safety purposes" in more dangerous place. There even a spadework has begun, but then were frozen due to simple reason - the population has refused to move. Now the residents are facing threatens. But peasants understand that moving to some places means their destruction. "We know that we will not live on a new place and will disperse all over the world",- told one of the locals.
There is a big element of truth, because the flood wasn`t a consequence a force of nature as the government tries to show. It was a consequence of criminal negligence of officials of all levels and various branches of executive authority. As a result of such behavior nearly 110 thousand hectare of lands and 20 thousand houses have been flooded. Thousand houses have been destroyed and currently are in an emergency conditions.
Today a situation in a flooding area is extremely difficult. People are starving in farms hit by a massive water. They don"t live like a human being, starved, being tormented with thoughts on cold and hungry winter and simultaneously with a hope for a future crop to which it is necessary to live to see it.
In the first days and weeks of the disaster desperate people believed in the state and the government that the authority won`t leave them in trouble. But now in their extinct eyes is no despair or hope, but only cold hatred to the authorities.

Baku-Sabirabad-Saatly-Baku

Mehman Aliyev