Officials refuse to pay rent to residents of dilapidated houses in Derbent

On February 1, the Derbent residents, who are protesting against resettlement, met Ibragim Kazibekov, the Minister of Construction and Housing of Dagestan, and Ali Khazbulatov, the permanent representative of the head of the republic in Southern Dagestan. People brought posters to the meeting: "We want no other’s property, but we won’t give away ours!" and "Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin! Stop the construction!"

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that on January 28 in Derbent, about 100 tenants of the houses falling under the programme of resettling people from emergency and dilapidated houses, held a rally against demolition of their houses. They do not want to move from the centre of Derbent and intend to address the prosecutor’s office and the court, arguing that the authorities want to resettle them illegally.

At the meeting on February 1, Minister Kazibekov told residents that new houses could be built in place of their old ones, provided they sign contracts obliging them to move out within three weeks and pay themselves their travel expenses and rental of temporary housing for the period of construction.

"The 2017 budget of Derbent has no funds for your relocation and rent of temporary housing. If you pay these costs yourself and vacate house within three weeks, possibly, the problem will be settled like you want," Ibragim Kazibekov said.

Finally, it was decided that tenants would soon hold a meeting and decide whether they would agree to the proposal of the officials or not.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.