A couple of days ago, there was a demonstration organized in front of the government building by demonstrators form the Northern and Main Avenues. The residents of Firdus street joined these demonstrators with the fear that the municipality will buy their homes. However, that was absurd. For ten years, there have been rumors going around that the Firdus spot (the fair) will be destructed. Meanwhile, those rumors remain only rumors until today.
The press services of the municipality informed us that at the present, there are no plans for the Firdus street. As to what will happen later, it remained unclear. With that in mind, we visited the neighborhood and realized that the fight among the residents really had nothing to do with the government, but rather, it was amongst the residents. Some residents agree to destruct the territory, while others declare that they will not leave their homes.
Many residents base their work and get income form the fair located on the same street. Years ago, most of the people living here had purchased pavilions voluntarily, however, these pavilions are considered to be state property. The people who have lands give them for rent to traders. One trader, who has a pavilion at the fair and lives on Firdus street, said that large amounts of money are circulated in the pavilions but he was afraid to state how much. However, he did state the minimum amount of money paid for one pavilion and that is $100 dollars. The people who give traders pavilions for rent are obviously against tearing down the “Firdus spot”. For others, that can even be considered as a dream since the homes are old and half fallen-apart. “People who were able to buy territories years ago don’t want the place to be tore down because they make a good living here. But people like me, who pay them lots of money, did not buy territories at the right time and want the neighborhood to be destructed. We want compensation so we can go and live somewhere normal, instead of in these tore down homes. We can’t tolerate the noise of the traders any longer. Why do they go and put on a demonstration? Most of them don’t even live in their homes. They just pay rent for the pavilion and earn good money. But we want to live better lives,” said one of the sellers who lives on Firdus street. We asked the residents if they were for the destruction of the territory and most of them replied: “They keep saying that they will tear the place down for 20 years now, but haven’t done anything. Why wouldn’t we want that? Look at how we are living.” It seems as if the “Firdus spot” demonstrators’ protests were unnecessary and the most important thing is that, in contrast to the residents of Northern and Main avenues who agree with one another, the Firdus residents contradict each other.
Neighborhood of “rats”
“Hey there young lady, you must have been sent from above. You are a journalist, right? I could just kiss you. Let’s go to my house so you can see how we live and then you can report this for the newspaper. You come to the “Firdus spot”. The people around here live well, but come and see how we live,” said an old woman crying. She sells laundry detergent. 75-year old Astghik Sahakyan has been living on 17 Arhestavorneri street since 1937. Eleven people live in this one bedroom shack-Astghik, her children and grandchildren. The residents are promised election after election that the garbage surrounding the area will be cleaned up and the road will be asphalted. One of the owners of the gold market around the shack has an unfinished building and has promised Astghik for 3 yeas that he will finish it. That unfinished building has turned into a real junkyard. Residents always write letters to the Central municipality so they can clean the areas, however, no reply. “It has been a while since we can get some sleep. The rats on the street are feeding on us. They have bitten our children a couple of times. One rat bit the ear of one of the children. We put the kids to sleep on our laps so that nothing can happen to them. We are so afraid that we can’t get a good night’s sleep. As you can see, it is a neighborhood full of rats. A real junkyard, humid, wet walls and mud, a rat’s living conditions. Please, do something, we can’t take it anymore, you see it with your own two eyes….The people of Firdus street are doing demonstrations, but do they know how others live? We are not asking for much-just let them come, take a look and go. Perhaps they can do something to at least make the rats go away, send some specialist. It is a nest for cholera and very dangerous. We are not as worried for us as much as for the children. After all, their lives are in danger,” says grandma Astghik.