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  • Vardenis Diary: Residents No Longer Expect Solutions From Elected Of

    VARDENIS DIARY: RESIDENTS NO LONGER EXPECT SOLUTIONS FROM ELECTED OFFICIALS
    Grisha Balasanyan

    http://hetq.am/en/marzes/vardenis-13/
    2010/03/01 | 16:22

    MP Tigran Torosyan: "People must understand officials are not here
    to hand out favors"

    Trying to reach the village of Vardenis, Aragatzotn Marz, especially
    during the winter, is an arduous and nearly impossible journey. Roads
    leading to the village, located just five kilometers from the town
    of Abaran, are covered with slick ice from the hardened snows.

    When the snowfalls are light, the roads are usually cleared pretty
    quickly, but the snow is swept along the roadsides, making turning
    impossible on the two-lane road.

    One of the drivers must park the car along the snow covered roadside
    and then, with some elbow grease from the passengers, push the car
    back in the other direction. This is what happened to us when we
    allowed a passing car to overtake us.

    A group of men from Vardenis had gathered next to a non-descript
    one story building they call the cultural center. When we entered the
    smoke filled room, there were about fifty men inside playing backgammon
    and cards. There were two former village mayors in the crowd.

    Former Vardenis mayors now unemployed

    Djivan Sargsyan was mayor of Vardenis from 1996-2002. He's now
    unemployed and passes the time of day playing backgammon with other
    men from the village. During our conversation, he had only praise
    for current Mayor Kamo Petrosyan, saying that the new man has already
    done more than he ever did.

    "Today, it's become the accepted norm that all taxes in the village
    are collected. Back in my day, we just couldn't do that," said Mr.

    Sargsyan

    The former village mayor points to government subsidies for the tax
    collection success story, arguing that without government assistance
    no community leader could ever manage to collect taxes.

    Another Djivan, this time Asatryan, served as Vardenis mayor from
    2002-2008. He said that he pulled out of the local race two years ago
    because it was becoming next to impossible to manage a community with
    such few resources.

    "I you go pay a visit to someone's home the first thing you pay
    attention to is the how clean the place is and the woman who runs the
    household. This here is like our living room because everyone from
    the village meets here. Take a look around and you'll get a good idea
    of what shape the village is in," Mr. Asatryan said, pointing towards
    the cultural center. He said that the list of problems facing Vardenis
    is a long one Land aplenty but farming just not profitable

    Vardenis has about 650 hectares of tillable land, 100 hectares of
    natural meadow and 500 hectares of pasture. "The village has a good
    amount of land, but residents just don't have the means to buy seed
    and fertilizer to work the land and make a profit. We sow our local
    seed and pray for rain. There's practically no irrigation water to
    speak of. We even use drinking water to irrigate the gardens by our
    homes," Mr. Asatryan said.

    He told the story of how the entire village flew in a panic the day
    the meadow grasses were being mowed for harvesting. The combine,
    made in 1985, conked out after just one hectare and remained out of
    order for days.

    We asked Mr. Asatryan if the village couldn't get the needed equipment
    on credit. He answered that there wasn't one person in Vardenis able
    to make such a purchase.

    We also asked if he had followed up on a list of issues that his
    predecessor had presented to Lyova Khachatryan, the local Member
    of Parliament.

    "What do you expect us to demand of him; he's just one individual.

    You're correct he should raise these issues in parliament. This is
    his second term in office. But he says nothing about the problems here.

    The only development was the 1.5 kilometer gas pipe they installed
    back in 20007. Lyova Khachatryan had something to do with that small
    event," he said.

    Village remains without gas

    Gas for heating and cooking has been the main problem in the village
    and remains so today. Residents burn dried dung for their winter
    heating needs. Those better off can afford to buy wood.

    Valery Safaryan, one of the unemployed men, who had gone to the
    cultural center to shoot the breeze, told us that the village had
    loads of uncultivated land.

    "Even the young people have nothing to do and drift around aimlessly.

    Those who can, leave the village. All of us would leave if he had
    the chance," he said.

    "No government official has ever visited the village to ask how we
    are coping. The only time we see a politician is before an election to
    ask for our votes. You don't see these guys for the next four years,"
    said Hendo, a village resident.

    Residents claim MP Khachatryan practices "favoritism with funds"

    I asked if they ever got in touch with their representatives. "Geez,
    give me a break. The minute we turn our backs they tear up the petition
    we just handed over. Nothing gets done. Why should they even read the
    damn thing? They come and hand out money at election time and figure
    they've solved the problem," answered Hendo.

    When we asked how much the politicians hand out Hendo replied,
    "5,000 AMD, the same amount they gave you."

    Vardges Manoukyan, another resident, said that they have petition MP
    Lyova Khachatryan several times but that nothing has yet to be done.

    Mr. Manoukyan was worried about the village school. The building is
    structurally unsafe. He confessed that it's with some trepidation
    that he sends his grandchild to first grade since the building could
    collapse at the slightest tremor.

    "Every official invests in their home town. It's the same with Lyova
    Khachatryan. He takes care of Yerndjatap. He's built a fabulous
    cultural center in the village and the gas flows freely. No one cares
    about us," Mr. Manoukyan said. He wasn't the only one critical of
    the discriminatory largesse handed out by the local MP.

    "Our regional governor is from the Talin region. They all direct
    the bulk of state funding to their districts. It's the same with the
    regional governor. Perhaps, if our esteemed president would just send
    a fact-finding team around to the villages, it's just possible that
    they'd have a change of heart, a feeling of remorse, and make changes
    to actually help rural folk," said resident Artur Grigoryan.

    Former NA Speaker Torosyan - Villagers should pester their elected
    representatives

    He noted that while MP Tigran Torosyan, the former parliament speaker,
    traces his roots to Vardenis, he's never publicly acknowledged the
    fact and has done nothing for the village.

    When asked, MP Torosyan didn't deny the connection to Vardenis but
    added that it was his ancestors that lived there ninety years ago
    and that today, he has no dealings with the village.

    "Officials aren't there to do favors for anyone. They have their
    elected MP, village mayor and regional governor. These are the
    officials they should be contacting regarding the problems they face,"
    MP Torosyan told Hetq.

    MP Torosyan said that one of the unfortunate aspects of the country
    is that members of parliament usually funnel government money and
    projects to their home towns. Other districts go without as a result.

    We asked MP Torosyan why he hadn't channeled any government projects
    to Vardenis, given that he is the only official to 'hail' from the
    village.

    "Since the good people of Vardenis have yet to understand that it's
    their local mayor who must seek solutions for local problems, they'll
    always wind in the same predicament," he answered.

    We didn't get to see the mayor of Vardenis. He was in Ashtarak
    on business. We did get to speak with Parandzem Gevorgyan, the
    municipality's staff secretary. She basically repeated what we had
    heard from local residents.

    Mrs. Gevorgyan pointed out that farming was no longer cost-effective
    since the government had halted subsidies for fertilizer. The cost,
    at 7,500 AMD a sack, is prohibitive for most

    "Forget about the fact that we have no seed to plant. Our MP knows
    what's going on in this village. We've petitioned him on many occasions
    but what can he do?" Mrs. Gevorgyan answered in despair.
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