"There are termites in our house; little by little, it's rotting away. You can't walk anywhere, you step and fall into the cellar," said Emma Sukyasyan, and pointed out that the same was true for every one who lived in Stepanavan's Ashotaberd district.

Ashotaberd, located on the outskirts of Stepanavan, is built entirely of wood. In 1991, 24 wooden structures were built for refugees from the earthquake. At the time, those people were living in trailers, or had no roof over their heads at all, so the new buildings seemed like a luxury. The wooden buildings were temporary, designed to be fit for living in for another seven years.

"We were told that we would live here for seven years, and during that time we would receive another apartment. My husband and I were newly married when we were given this place. We were among the first residents. Our three children were born here. At first, of course, everything was convenient, better than being left outside. But now it's impossible to live here anymore. The house is slowly rotting away," said Emma Sukyasyan.

The Maleryan family next door is one of the poorest in the district. They are seven people living in a two-room apartment. None of the members of the family has a job. They live on government welfare, and cannot even think about repairing the house.

"My son cut his hand three years ago, and now he's disabled, so nobody works in the house. Two of my grandchildren are also disabled. We live on nothing," said Hasmik Maleryan. "One day I beg for something from one of my neighbors, the next day from another, so we live hand to mouth. Where would we find money to repair the place? Look, the floor is rotted; once one of the little children fell into the hole over there. There are holes in the walls and the roof, so we burn whatever we find so the little ones don't freeze."

When it estimated how long the wooden district would last, the construction company failed to take into account Stepanavan's wet, rainy climate, and the city authorities did not provide new apartments for the residents as the initial clause stated. As a result, people are still living in houses which started deteriorating long before they were supposed to. Moreover, there are 340 families occupying 296 apartments, several families sharing one apartment.

"We are well aware of the situation in Ashotaberd and even have a program to deal with the situation. Since Ashotaberd is a self-regulated district, we cannot evacuate the residents. According to the program, new stone buildings will be built in Ashotaberd," said Stepanavan's vice-mayor, Rostom Kocharyan, though he couldn't tell us when the program was to start.

Instead, city authorities continue to regularly collect property taxes and utility fees.

"In our building, they don't collect the garbage, we have no water, and now the pipes are broken. If they don't do anything, what are we paying for? Up to now, I've been paying them money, but now all the neighbors have decided we won't pay anymore. If we have to pay taxes and fees and then repair the building with our own money, it's better not to pay the fees and do something useful with the money," complained Emma Sukyasyan.

Residents of these building are not considered homeless by the city authorities and so they aren't on any of the lists for new apartments. Furthermore, many of the residents have privatized their apartments and thus are no longer under the sponsorship of the municipality.

At the Mayor's Office, they tell us that the city's former authorities left no documents regarding Ashotaberd. But the expert group from the Marzpet's (Governor's) Office determined that they could last for 25 years, that is, another 10 years. How they came to this conclusion remains a mystery. None of the experts even set foot in any of these buildings. In any case, the city authorities are incapable of solving this problem and have suggested establishing a condominium which would help district residents solve their problems themselves. Yet the district has no money for the condominium. So all that remains is to wait and hope, if, of course, the wood lasts long enough.

Tsoline Mikayelyan