Dzeno Association

„It is a time bomb. The local council will have to build fencing around the whole Roma settlement otherwise Roma people will keep expanding their dwellings. They have to realize they are situated on somebody else’s property,” said the mayor of the village Jozef Veber for RPA. He added that the village authorities have already discussed the idea of asking the Ministry for Construction and Regional Development for funding of 6 million crowns. The money is to be spent on building extentions to already existing housing units. However, they have to face the problem of property settlement’s completion. “ The council is not able to negotiate with all the owners because there are too many of them. Some of them are already deceased and their land has been going through inheritance proceedings for a long time,” the mayor commented. In his opinion the problem of Roma living in the village has to be tackled as a whole. The educational level of Roma is very low as there is aparently only one Roma who has finished secondary school in the village. What is more, Roma, who according to RPA represent 15% of village poplation, don’t even have a cultural or community centre.
(Dzeno/Roma Press Agency)

Alternative to Barbed Wire Found for Presov Roma Ghetto?
Presov, Slovakia –– Presov city council’s latest plan is to place surveillance cameras around the Roma neighborhood in the town and provide more policemen to patrol the Stará Tehelna Roma ghetto says Presov Deputy Mayor, Stanislav Goban.
column: News | date: 12. 10. 2005