Today they started to distribute the government oil for the needy families at a shop called “Kutaisyan” in Gyumri, which caused fight and murder. There was such a line that could not be seen in cold and dark years – it had neither a beginning nor an end and was accompanied by the worst curses, pulling each other’s hair and pushing each other.
The sad thing was, however, that there were old people with canes in the line who asked to find an acquaintance at social service the moment they saw a journalist, in order that they are given oil out of line. E.g. one of the old people, Sonik Gevorgyan, was begging us in tears to plead for her, as she had left her sister pinned to the bed and she couldn’t even squeeze through the line.
The people in the line claimed that the ambulances had been replacing each other since the early morning, the old people got worse one after another and were compelled to call medics. “We have been standing here since 8 am, what a manner is this, is it the right way to do good, easier said than done? They give three bottles of oil to each of us and they even spoil that. Couldn’t they distribute oil along with pension? Don’t they pity the old people, how can they stand in this cold? Or is it so difficult to send a few more social workers to push the work forward, what a mess is this?”
We inquired from Eduard Baghramyan, the director of Gyumri 2 social service, whether it wasn’t possible to change the way of distribution, do it as the residents suggested, “It isn’t possible to distribute more than 17 thousand litters of oil to 26 post offices – it is quite hard. In that case, we must
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guarantee the respective means of transportation, the respective staff, workforce in 26 offices and it is very hard. We have chosen the shortest and fastest way, we have one free shop and we distribute there.”
According to the official, they cannot increase the number of social workers to distribute oil – they sent the latter to the oil shop in shifts, in order that the registration is not paralyzed. Eduard Baghramyan informed that the preholiday oil was intended to be distributed to around 10 thousand families. An official, who was also astounded by the curses voiced in the line, stated that the distribution of those was with no fixed term, therefore, according to him, those people who did not feel the absolute necessity for that had better make way for the poor.
Nune AREVSHATYAN
