Derbent residents threaten to block highway in protest against resettlement

For the second day in a row, residents of central Derbent are holding protests with a demand not to resettle them into new buildings. Townspeople have threatened to block the federal highway and the railway. The Chairman of the City Assembly has urged them to wait for the outcomes of the Mayor’s meeting with the republic’s Premier.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that in January the tenants of the houses, which are covered by the resettlement programme from the emergency and dilapidated housing, began protesting against the demolition of their houses and the need to move from the city centre to its outskirts. Due to lack of funds in the city budget, the authorities demanded from them to pay all the costs related to the resettlement, promising to consider their return to the centre after new houses are built there.

The protest action was attended by Movsum Ragimov, the Chairman of the Derbent City Assembly, who urged the rally to disperse.

The townspeople also held protest on February 19, attended by some 200 persons. Then, they stressed that the authorities were going to resettle them into new houses in the area of the "Radioelement" Factory; where residence may be hazardous for their health. Besides, they doubt whether it is possible to live in the houses built 40 meters off the Caspian Sea coast and close to the railway, the "Region Online" reports.

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