FRONTIER REGION FACES DIFFICULTIES

[MosJan]

FRONTIER REGION FACES DIFFICULTIES

When president Kocharian visited Gegharkunik marz last year, a hope emerged among the local residents – they thought that at last their problems will be paid attention to. The president visited Gavar, but didn’t enter Chambarak town (ex-Krasnoselsk). And the region remained abandoned.

 

 

In words of the locals even the parliament deputy elected from their electoral poll does not show up in the town. The Chambarak people are used to such attitude and know well that they shall take care of their problems by themselves- without pinning hopes on the state.

 

 

There are no big or medium-sized enterprises in the region. And at the only factory of the region which used to produce radio equipment some ‘entrepreneurs’ want to start producing … cheese. To be short, the region stopped being an administrative unit. The only employment here is agriculture and cattle breeding. That’s the reason why several apartment buildings of Chambarak town are empty, whereas the private houses having adjoining lands are in real demand. Only couple of inhabitants remained in the apartment houses- those working in law-enforcement bodies or in the ‘Armenian savings bank’.

 

 

Only two TV channels are broadcast to Chambarak- the state TV and Prometheus and the residents of nearby villages envy the townspeople, for they can’t even watch these two channels. Some villages in the region solve the problem of TV by purchasing strong antennas, but this doesn’t save the situation everywhere. And the newspapers reach the frontier villages via route-bus drivers only. The telephone network in the region is also in a very bad condition. One can hear the phone conversation of his neighbor on the TV and listen to radio broadcasts in the receiver. People here have only heard about Internet and seen computers only in banks.

 

 

The only positive thing which can be observed in the region is the comparably good education. But very soon this tendency as well can be halted because of lack of teachers.

 

 

Nevertheless, people in Chambarak region still tolerate the situation- being far from world and civilization. They still believe that one day everything will be normalized. But it is hard to tell for how long this hope will last.

 

 

By Gor Abrahamian

 

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