Цитаты
Надежда - это обращение к духу, обращение к сердцу, она выходит за пределы мира непосредственного опыта и бросает якорь за горизонтом. Вацлав Гавел |
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Statement in connection with situation in the sphere of housing and communal services
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 During recent days public opinion was attracted again to the problems of housing and communal sphere that relates to everyday life of citizens immediately. These are both accommodation and electricity tariffs and quality of services for population. Problems of housing and communal services worry people as strongly as amount of pensions, medical aid, and fare. The situation is forming around the whole country when people have to give almost half of their salary for housing and communal services with very bad quality of them. Lack of regulation of tariffs for housing and communal services and often their arbitrary amount having no connection with cost price of services should be added to this. It’s enough to recall the recent scandal in Moscow when association of accommodation owners in a house at Molchanovka raised the tariff 55 times with the purpose of evicting the residents and selling the apartments.
This and similar occurrences became the subject of criminal cases but still the tariffs for housing and communal services are growing around the whole country. Thus, in Novovyatsky district of Kirov hot water tariffs grew by 40 per cent in December, and this was the cause for V. Putin’s statement about responsibility of governors and necessity to pay most serious attention to the sphere of housing and communal services and growth of tariffs. And Kirov region is not the only one in this concern. Even Moscow where standard of life of people seems to differ for the better from life in other cities is absolutely not a problem-free region: the mayor of Moscow S. Sobyanin noted that “the highest level of complaints about housing and communal services is available in Moscow”. Reports about problem and even catastrophic situation in the sphere of housing and communal services come from all the regions of the country. The flagrant case took place in Bryansk not long ago – asphalt collapsed there and a child perished due to this. It’s enough to list some of headlines in mass media reports:
- rubbish was not removed from settlements of Irkutsk region since late in recent year;
- settlement is freezing in Khabarovsk region;
- Stavropol region is overflown with communal outrage;
- Kursk regional office of public prosecutor revealed breaches of legislation in the sphere of housing and communal services;
- in Yakutia about 3 thousand people remained without heating in 60-degree frost;
- numerous thefts from housing and communal services funds were revealed;
- just 1% of water supply system water in the cities of Russia meet international standards.
Hundreds similar reports could be provided as we probably have not a single human settlement where everything would be all right with housing and communal services.
Director of Moscow bureau for human rights Alexander Brod: “For correction of situation, a complex program should be implemented covering all the aspects of functioning of housing and communal services. Certainly level of tariffs is the most important problem in regulation of this sphere as they are permanently growing, often groundlessly, and this causes discontent of population. In this connection V. Putin suggested to freeze tariffs for three years, and the corresponding document is developed in the Duma after his suggestion. But such measure that is probably efficient regarding pre-election combat is not of market character: tariffs should really reflect costs otherwise shortage of services may be created. Besides, infrastructure of housing and communal services that is most deteriorated requires considerable financial investments for its modernization, and it would be necessary to search for big money in other sources of federal and regional budgets. There is much doubt that they would be found in sufficient amount. In any case it is necessary to solve the problems of housing and communal services, and very urgently. Improvement in the sphere of housing and communal services means securing of elementary human rights”. |
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