Landslide villagers reluctant to resettle

"I do not want to move to another place. My parents were born here, I was born here and so were my children. I hope everything will be fine." So said an elderly man in Korol village in the Alai district of Osh region, where 250 families continue to live under the threat of landslides. Landslides, avalanches and floods are common in this mountainous country. According to the Ministry of Ecology and Emergency of Kyrgyzstan (MEE), this year alone saw the death of 85 people due to such natural disasters. "The country is becoming more and more prone to natural disasters. Precipitation is already over the norm, so next spring there will be a real danger of landslides and mountain floods," Emil Akmatov, a spokesman at the MEE, told IRIN in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek. The issue of the resettlement of those who live in places threatened by landslides is becoming more pressing. Currently more than 4,000 families are being asked to resettle in safer areas. But resettlement is not popular as people say they have to wait years for financial compensation. "Though money is given to people to rebuild their lives, some have to wait for up to four years for payment," confirmed Akmatov. "In March and April, representatives of the MEE came to our village. Although they told us we had to resettle, we have been offered no direct help," another resident of Korol village said. The procedure for getting compensation complicates the issue. "It is too much bureaucracy," said one of the representatives of the village administration. At the start of the process, the representative of the MEE examines the place in question and sends a decision to the Department of Building, which comes to re-examine the case, and then decides on and gives loans. It gives 200,000 soms (about US $4,700) to build a new house and 120,000 soms (about $2,800) to buy the house. However, compensation varies from case to case. "Most of those who do not want to move are elderly. We ask the public prosecutor to deal with those families who do not want to resettle," the governor of Alai district, Sultanbek Abdiev, told IRIN. The majority of those who have to resettle are poor. In Alai district, 73 percent of the population lives below the poverty line. "How I can move to another place? You can imagine how difficult it was to build this house for our family. I know each stone of my home, everything was done by me. I have been living here for 15 years. Now I have to resettle, but the money is not enough to build everything again," said 40-year-old Almazbek baike.