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Was he “full of teeth”? The container town in Telgárt, where more than a hundred settlers have been living since November, still has problems. Some praise the new housing, but many grumble that even twelve are crowded in one cell and interpersonal relations are strained. They demanded more and more from the mayor, while others in the village blamed him for helping only the Roma. After pressure from both sides, he apparently could not stand it and resigned.
A container town about an ex-star
Video
Source: TV Pravda
Jozef Štajer was the mayor in Telgárt for the first election period, but he did not “hold out” the position until its end. We did not learn from him the reason why he decided to give up. He didn’t answer our phone calls for a few weeks before. When he finally picked up after a short ring, we were a little surprised. However, we immediately learned that there was someone else on the other end of the call – namely the deputy mayor Vasil Černák. He explained to us that last week Štajer left a computer-written letter to the female workers at the municipal office saying that he was resigning.
“He did it without giving a reason,” claims Černák. He did not want to comment further. He just reminded that the new mayor will be chosen by the residents in by-elections. “We have to wait until the National Council declares them, according to the law. But the municipal council must first adopt a resolution stating that he resigned,” he noted. He himself has been a member of parliament from Telgár continuously for 42 years. He did not want to tell us whether he plans to run for mayor. According to him, it is premature to talk about it.
Incompetent?
When we asked the employee of the municipal office about the mayor’s resignation, she refused to comment on it. We also stopped by a few locals, but most of them pretended they had no idea what a “stumbling block” could be. But one elderly man did not put a napkin in front of his mouth.
“Why did he resign? Because he is incapable,” he said harshly. “You know, when he turns forty burnt-out Roma into more than a hundred without a roof over their heads, it’s probably not right,” he waved his hand and walked away disgusted. With his words, he alluded to last year’s fire, which broke out in one of the settlements there. At the end of last year, its residents were provided with alternative accommodation in the form of mobile containers.
A middle-aged woman pointed out that the mayor did not have the support of municipal deputies. “It is impossible to do without cooperation. He probably had enough. Of course, they blamed him the most for the unfortunate settlement. Many complained that he does everything only for the Roma,” she assessed.
Apart from the already mentioned Vasil Černák, we were unable to contact any of the other deputies. There are nine of them in total, but they do not have their e-mail or telephone contacts published.
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One young mother did not want to debate with us about why the magistrate resigned. “You’ll have to ask him,” she responded. We explained to her that we don’t have a private number for him and his representative already has a work number. We couldn’t even look for him at any address in Telgárt, because according to several people we met, he doesn’t live in the village. When he got married, he allegedly moved to his wife’s birthplace. According to them, he was commuting to work at the office.
“I saw Mr. Štajer at the community center fifteen minutes ago. He was just unloading some packages there. Maybe you’ll catch him there if you go to see him right now,” the mentioned mother advised us. But when we arrived at the place, we did not see the ex-mayor. Only two women were moving there. We introduced ourselves and asked if the former mayor was there somewhere. “We’re not going to comment on anything,” one of them replied irritatedly, and turning her back on us, she made it clear that she didn’t want to talk to us anymore. So we headed for the settlement.
He cried with them
When the Telgárt settlers sleeping in tents received mobile containers last November, it seemed that the worst times were behind them. After the fire in July, when several huts burned down, they were left without a solid roof over their heads. The ruins of the affected homes were razed to the ground by the municipality, but we came across people who claimed that everything did not have to “go down”. According to them, some buildings were still preserved and they could continue to live peacefully in them. For months afterwards, 105 people, including children, lived as if in a “camping camp”.
Settlement after installing unimo cells
Video
Source: TV Pravda
The Ministry of Finance released 380,000 euros for unimo cells, even under the previous leadership. The funds were transferred to the Government Office to the commissioner for Roma communities. The Banskobystrica County also cooperated in solving the problem. The conditions of the people there improved as a result – they also enjoyed heat and running water with a shower. However, the struggles did not end. Several are dissatisfied that two families are crowded into a small space.
“There are eleven of us here, come and have a look,” Sylvia Pokošová, in her fifties, invited us. “You see, it’s actually one room in which I have to squeeze in with my daughter, her husband and eight children,” she pointed with her hand at the modestly furnished space. It was dominated by beds, a refrigerator and a few pieces of older furniture.
“Before the fire, I lived alone, I was more comfortable. The daughter lived separately with her family. I should have been separated here too, they didn’t separate us well,” she shook her head. “I also told the mayor, but he did nothing about it. Several Roma also cursed him. In general, there are such arguments between us, there is tension. Interpersonal relations here are not good,” he thinks.
Pokošová has a clear opinion on Štajer’s decision. “He felt like he was between millstones. On the one hand, there was pressure on him from the whites, who didn’t like that he was helping us too much. However, not everyone was satisfied here either, and they blamed him,” she added.
Many people think that the money that the mayor received to solve their situation could have been put to better use. “He should have provided more containers for this, but who knows where all that funding ended up.” We didn’t have to crowd here,” a middle-aged man whispered to us a short distance from the others. “Maybe he would build an apartment building out of it,” he added. He did not tell us the name.
Many, however, cannot tolerate the outgoing mayor. “He helped us as he knew how. When we lived in tents, he was sorry, he cried with us. He brought us food, clothes, and candy for the children. Shame on him,” said a moved Renáta Šťuková.
