Social support in romanian urban ghettos
It is almost undisputable the fact that the so called urban ghettos amass great number of social supported people, because of poverty and because of other disadvantages that they face with. The type of social support and the examples that shall follow come to strengthen the previous statement. We must keep in mind that the population benefits from social security in different forms, from housing with moderate rent and payment of utilities to having a daily meal and payment of some allowances.
Practically speaking, with regards to Arad, an article published in the year 2005 says that most Roma persons not only from Checheci, but also from the city in general are socially dependent to an extent of 80 percent: social security, meal at the social canteen, material support, social and legal consultancy etc. This is a sad reality where the “Roma people ... in shacks, wait hungry and dirty the social food, with children that die of fever or flu [and] with un-educated youngsters” (Gheorghe, 2006).
Also in Transylvania, but more to the north, in Oradea people live as Ovidiu Morcan said (2007) in very difficult conditions, most of them only from the social security and what they find in the trash dump. The situation seems unchanged also in Satu Mare, where the ghetto Ostrovului hosts most of the social supported people of the city (PopVladimirescu, 2012).
Following some edge situations regarding the provision of electricity, the Roma people from the Craica area requested, among others, to continue to be tolerated with regards to the supply on one hand and to continue to receive social support from the Mayor`s Office, on the other hand, until an alternative is offered. The other ghetto of Baia Mare – Horea – is, in fact, a space of social housings where a lot of very poor Roma persons live. Except the ones that work for the local sanitation company, most of the people left live only from social security and the children`s allowances (Popescu, 2011). In Miercurea Ciuc, for example, the relationship of the people near the water treatment plant with the Mayor`s Office is strictly pragmatic. The Roma persons work four days a week, for the “City Hall” (as mentioned in an article from Gândul in October 2005) and in exchange the institution pays the common expenditures (water, electricity and picking up the trash) (Kovacs, 2011), fact that is recognized by the Roma persons.
On the other hand, at Sibiu social support means daily meals offered to the people from the ghetto. They eat at the social canteen from Guşteriţa (an area of the city), or they bring the food home so that the whole family can “enjoy” it. Their social and economical situation is so dramatic, that, stated a woman from Zăvoi „if they would cut us the canteen, we would simply be left to eat trash” (Mocanu, Orlandea and Carabaşu, 2011). And from Alexandra Ion-Cristea we find out that some of the today “residents” of Zăvoi area were evacuated of different reasons from the social housings. Among these there are people “who lost also their social security because they didn`t want to work the hours for community service according to the law” (Ion-Cristea, 2006).
In the cities of Moldavia things are not different in comparison withwhat was presented so far. In the ghetto from km. 10 in Brăila, an overwhelming number of people live from social security from which they are condemned to survive and pay also the rent, electricity and get clothes if they afford it (Ivan, 2007). At Botoşani, except the children`s allowances and some products or money obtained from daily work, in the ghetto from the Tineretului Park the most important source of income for many people is the social security. Over 150 families have huge debts for utilities. The total value of the debts was in 210, 60 thousand lei according to some (Constantiniu, 2011), 180 thousand lei according to others (Maxim, 2011). The Roma persons from the two blocks often say they are poor people, that they live in social blocks and are supported by the Mayor`s Office (http://stiri.botosani.ro/).
Practically speaking, with regards to Arad, an article published in the year 2005 says that most Roma persons not only from Checheci, but also from the city in general are socially dependent to an extent of 80 percent: social security, meal at the social canteen, material support, social and legal consultancy etc. This is a sad reality where the “Roma people ... in shacks, wait hungry and dirty the social food, with children that die of fever or flu [and] with un-educated youngsters” (Gheorghe, 2006).
Also in Transylvania, but more to the north, in Oradea people live as Ovidiu Morcan said (2007) in very difficult conditions, most of them only from the social security and what they find in the trash dump. The situation seems unchanged also in Satu Mare, where the ghetto Ostrovului hosts most of the social supported people of the city (PopVladimirescu, 2012).
Following some edge situations regarding the provision of electricity, the Roma people from the Craica area requested, among others, to continue to be tolerated with regards to the supply on one hand and to continue to receive social support from the Mayor`s Office, on the other hand, until an alternative is offered. The other ghetto of Baia Mare – Horea – is, in fact, a space of social housings where a lot of very poor Roma persons live. Except the ones that work for the local sanitation company, most of the people left live only from social security and the children`s allowances (Popescu, 2011). In Miercurea Ciuc, for example, the relationship of the people near the water treatment plant with the Mayor`s Office is strictly pragmatic. The Roma persons work four days a week, for the “City Hall” (as mentioned in an article from Gândul in October 2005) and in exchange the institution pays the common expenditures (water, electricity and picking up the trash) (Kovacs, 2011), fact that is recognized by the Roma persons.
On the other hand, at Sibiu social support means daily meals offered to the people from the ghetto. They eat at the social canteen from Guşteriţa (an area of the city), or they bring the food home so that the whole family can “enjoy” it. Their social and economical situation is so dramatic, that, stated a woman from Zăvoi „if they would cut us the canteen, we would simply be left to eat trash” (Mocanu, Orlandea and Carabaşu, 2011). And from Alexandra Ion-Cristea we find out that some of the today “residents” of Zăvoi area were evacuated of different reasons from the social housings. Among these there are people “who lost also their social security because they didn`t want to work the hours for community service according to the law” (Ion-Cristea, 2006).
In the cities of Moldavia things are not different in comparison withwhat was presented so far. In the ghetto from km. 10 in Brăila, an overwhelming number of people live from social security from which they are condemned to survive and pay also the rent, electricity and get clothes if they afford it (Ivan, 2007). At Botoşani, except the children`s allowances and some products or money obtained from daily work, in the ghetto from the Tineretului Park the most important source of income for many people is the social security. Over 150 families have huge debts for utilities. The total value of the debts was in 210, 60 thousand lei according to some (Constantiniu, 2011), 180 thousand lei according to others (Maxim, 2011). The Roma persons from the two blocks often say they are poor people, that they live in social blocks and are supported by the Mayor`s Office (http://stiri.botosani.ro/).
On the Munţii Tatra Street only a very small number of the inhabitants of the informal dwelling are “better off”, with this we understand that they have a job or a pension. The rest, most of them live their tormented daily life from incomes derived from social security, or from selling old iron (Dumitrov, 2011). The same situation is met also in Drobeta Tr. Severin where the inhabitants of ghetto L2 live from “wagging, old iron, begging and social security” (Lobda, 2003). Most of them being social supported cannot afford even to pay the utilities bill, and the same thing happens also in the Botoşani ghetto as we have seen previously.
„The new tenants are awaited with a real luxury in the new house made available from the authorities” or “houses more than luxurious”, this is how Adrian Arnăutu was writing in August 2010 regarding the move of the Roma people from the Bârlad ghetto to the new social houses. The houses where the Roma people from ghetto G1 were supposed to move looked impeccable and had all necessary utilities (running water, electricity, gas etc.) People had here practically everything they didn`t have there, at G1. Most of the tenants of G1 were moved in the three blocks on Cpt. Grigore Ignat Street and only a small part in the block on Alexandru Vlahuţă Street located nearby. The move from September 2010 took place using all the legal rules and norms for a civilized living, the action being supervised by the authorities. The people that came in the new houses made contracts for utilities: sanitation, gas, water, electricity etc. In total the project of the new social houses from Bârlad cost the local authorities approximately 6 mil. RON (Călin, 2010).
The report of the previous section shows, also, some of the elements of social support from Pata Rât. The authorities launched a project to build ten modular social houses on a blank field near the trash dump that now has the name the New Pata Rât. Some few hundred people benefited from this social project, without reminding the ones that benefit from social security and live in the three locations near the trash
„The new tenants are awaited with a real luxury in the new house made available from the authorities” or “houses more than luxurious”, this is how Adrian Arnăutu was writing in August 2010 regarding the move of the Roma people from the Bârlad ghetto to the new social houses. The houses where the Roma people from ghetto G1 were supposed to move looked impeccable and had all necessary utilities (running water, electricity, gas etc.) People had here practically everything they didn`t have there, at G1. Most of the tenants of G1 were moved in the three blocks on Cpt. Grigore Ignat Street and only a small part in the block on Alexandru Vlahuţă Street located nearby. The move from September 2010 took place using all the legal rules and norms for a civilized living, the action being supervised by the authorities. The people that came in the new houses made contracts for utilities: sanitation, gas, water, electricity etc. In total the project of the new social houses from Bârlad cost the local authorities approximately 6 mil. RON (Călin, 2010).
The report of the previous section shows, also, some of the elements of social support from Pata Rât. The authorities launched a project to build ten modular social houses on a blank field near the trash dump that now has the name the New Pata Rât. Some few hundred people benefited from this social project, without reminding the ones that benefit from social security and live in the three locations near the trash
dump.
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