18 May 2009, 21:00
In the capital of Dagestan, 30 persons block a street
Today, the end of the Akushinskogo Street in Makhachkala was blocked by 30 townspeople, who demanded from a local businessman to stop his construction on the road.
Local residents are dissatisfied with the actions of local businessman Shamil Magomedov, who has fenced a land plot and a road in Vatan settlement, which is administratively subordinated to the Sovietskiy District of the capital of Dagestan.
Yunus Saipudinov, one of the protesters, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that the residents of the settlement have the general plan of 1993, approved by the administration of Makhachkala with indication of all land plots and roads.
In 2006, Magomedov presented a new general plan to the residents, also approved by the administration of Makhachkala, with updated land plot areas and without road marking. Then, he started building a banquet hall right in the road, which is nicely maintained and habitual for the residents.
Now, they have to make a bypass to drive out of the settlement, and children need to cross the road to get to school.
Mr Saipudinov said that local residents wrote letters to the city and Republic's authorities, held protest actions, but "nothing can affect the businessman."
"He was fined; and Osman Osmanov, head of the Sovietskiy District of Makhachkala, kept asking him to stop the construction, but Magomedov continues erecting the banquet hall. He told us that everything would be finished, as he had paid quite a lot for the land," said Saipudinov.
In the afternoon, militiamen arrived to the venue of the protest and asked to unblock the Akushinskogo Street; and it was done.
Later, the protesters telephoned the administration of Makhachkala; they were promised that the chief architect of the city would come to them, but he failed to appear. After a while, the protesters dispersed, having promised to resume their rally in the near future.
Bureaucrats from the city administration told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that they knew nothing about the protest and problems of settlement residents.
Author: Akhmed Magomedov Source: CK correspondent