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Little Mantash Residents: 'When it come to funding, officials prefer
Big Mantash'
Yeranuhi Soghoyan
hetq
11:21, November 24, 2012
There isn't much that actually separates the communities of Big and
Little Mantash, two villages in Armenia's northern Shirak Province.
Over time, the two have become intertwined to the extent that you can
walk from one into the other and not know it.
Ah, but there's a difference emanating from the names; at least when
it comes to government help from the central government in Yerevan.
This is what many in Little Mantash believe. They'll tell you that
when it comes attracting the attention of government planners in
Yerevan, they get overlooked in favour of their bigger cousins.
`In reality, we aren't all that small, but we have suffered due to our
name,' says Little Mantash Mayor Zhirayr Hakobyan. `Actually, we have
80 more families than in Big Mantash. But when it comes to doling out
projects, all it takes is for some official to look at the map and say
it's better to assist Big Mantash.'
Little Mantash has a population of 3,050. Every year some 40 marriages
are celebrated. The village school has an enrollment of 390. The
school needs to expand to cope with the demand. The kindergarten has a
staff of 14 to monitor the 60 children that attend. Every year, the
municipality allocates 9 million AMD to the kindergarten.
The two storey building that houses the kindergarten is also home to
the mayor's office, the library, music school and cultural center.
Mayor Hakobyan says he's really like a separate building for the
municipality but that right now the funds aren't available for such a
luxury.
Little Mantash has annual revenues of 5 million AMD and receives a
central government subsidy of 37 million.
For the past two years work has been underway to bring natural gas to
the community. The community hasn't kicked in all the funds necessary
to fulfil its 10% contribution to the project. As a result, four
kilometres of the 17 kilometre pipe haven't been installed.
Local resident Sasoun Hakobyan says that Little Mantash is the second
largest village in the Artik region but laments the fact that it still
doesn't have access to gas.
`Some folk eat meat every day while others eat borsht. When has there
ever been equality in this country to expect it today? They say that
it isn't cost effective to supply the village with gas, but let the
residents decide if they want to use it or not,' says Hakobyan.
Sargis Levonyan, another resident of Little Mantash, voiced others
concerns about the village to us.
He pointed to the adults assembled near the wall of the store and was
upset that there are no facilities for people to congregate and spend
some leisure time.
`Everyone says the village will improve over time. But we have no club
or even a room to gather and play chess or backgammon. Right now, we
still enjoy sunny days so we are able to meet here behind the store.
Come winter, we won't even be able to do that.'
Little Mantash residents have refused the services of the water
utility because it was too expensive and the water was of poor
quality. The community has joined with three neighbouring villages and
they all draw water from local springs. This was after the community
had racked up a 68 million AMD water bill with the utility.
The community used to draw drinking water from the Mantash Reservoir.
The problem is that the local chlorination unit built in the Soviet
era hasn't been working for the past 24 years.
Some twenty communities in the area still get their unprocessed water
from the reservoir.
The central government has promised to invest some 65 million AMD in a
water distribution project for the area, but only after Little Mantash
and the other affected communities sit down with the sanitary
authorities and iron out their differences.
Big Mantash'
Yeranuhi Soghoyan
hetq
11:21, November 24, 2012
There isn't much that actually separates the communities of Big and
Little Mantash, two villages in Armenia's northern Shirak Province.
Over time, the two have become intertwined to the extent that you can
walk from one into the other and not know it.
Ah, but there's a difference emanating from the names; at least when
it comes to government help from the central government in Yerevan.
This is what many in Little Mantash believe. They'll tell you that
when it comes attracting the attention of government planners in
Yerevan, they get overlooked in favour of their bigger cousins.
`In reality, we aren't all that small, but we have suffered due to our
name,' says Little Mantash Mayor Zhirayr Hakobyan. `Actually, we have
80 more families than in Big Mantash. But when it comes to doling out
projects, all it takes is for some official to look at the map and say
it's better to assist Big Mantash.'
Little Mantash has a population of 3,050. Every year some 40 marriages
are celebrated. The village school has an enrollment of 390. The
school needs to expand to cope with the demand. The kindergarten has a
staff of 14 to monitor the 60 children that attend. Every year, the
municipality allocates 9 million AMD to the kindergarten.
The two storey building that houses the kindergarten is also home to
the mayor's office, the library, music school and cultural center.
Mayor Hakobyan says he's really like a separate building for the
municipality but that right now the funds aren't available for such a
luxury.
Little Mantash has annual revenues of 5 million AMD and receives a
central government subsidy of 37 million.
For the past two years work has been underway to bring natural gas to
the community. The community hasn't kicked in all the funds necessary
to fulfil its 10% contribution to the project. As a result, four
kilometres of the 17 kilometre pipe haven't been installed.
Local resident Sasoun Hakobyan says that Little Mantash is the second
largest village in the Artik region but laments the fact that it still
doesn't have access to gas.
`Some folk eat meat every day while others eat borsht. When has there
ever been equality in this country to expect it today? They say that
it isn't cost effective to supply the village with gas, but let the
residents decide if they want to use it or not,' says Hakobyan.
Sargis Levonyan, another resident of Little Mantash, voiced others
concerns about the village to us.
He pointed to the adults assembled near the wall of the store and was
upset that there are no facilities for people to congregate and spend
some leisure time.
`Everyone says the village will improve over time. But we have no club
or even a room to gather and play chess or backgammon. Right now, we
still enjoy sunny days so we are able to meet here behind the store.
Come winter, we won't even be able to do that.'
Little Mantash residents have refused the services of the water
utility because it was too expensive and the water was of poor
quality. The community has joined with three neighbouring villages and
they all draw water from local springs. This was after the community
had racked up a 68 million AMD water bill with the utility.
The community used to draw drinking water from the Mantash Reservoir.
The problem is that the local chlorination unit built in the Soviet
era hasn't been working for the past 24 years.
Some twenty communities in the area still get their unprocessed water
from the reservoir.
The central government has promised to invest some 65 million AMD in a
water distribution project for the area, but only after Little Mantash
and the other affected communities sit down with the sanitary
authorities and iron out their differences.