CHECHNYA LINKS LIBRARY

Scepticism greets newly-introduced "housing certificates" in Chechnya

By Ruslan Isayev

CHECHNYA - Few people in Chechnya believe that compensation for lost housing and property will be paid to all those who need it.

Since the beginning of the month there has been a marked intensification of work on the problem of compensation. The authorities have announced the introduction of so-called “housing certificates”, which will be distributed to families who have lost all their accommodation. This applies only to residents of Grozny, but many residents of other population centres are besieging the offices of their local administrations from morning to night in an effort to submit their documents.

All one needs to do in order to obtain a "housing certificate" is to hand in photocopies of the passports of all the members of one’s family together with one’s other documents.

However, the authorities have given no detailed information about how the certificates are to be used. There is also no indication of how many families will receive them.

Some human rights workers take a more than sceptical attitude to the new arrangements. One theory, yet to be confirmed, suggests that the data submitted in order to obtain the “housing certificates” may be used during the State Duma elections on December 2.

A short time ago the Grozny administration began a complete re-registration of the city’s housing stock. When instructing his subordinates, Grozny’s mayor Muslim Khuchiyev said that the only valid documents are those issued by the current government. Those issued in Soviet times or under the regimes of Dzhokhar Dudayev, Doku Zavgayev, or any other, are no longer valid.

It should be noted that people are now thoroughly confused by the subtleties of the bureaucrats, as this is the third time they have been told to re-register their documents.

(Translation by DM)

(D/T)

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