After the opening of the reconstructed Saatli-Musali-Mazrali road, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev met with the public of Saatli District.

Local residents warmly welcomed the head of state.

Saluting representatives of the district public, President Ilham Aliyev said:

How are you? How are you getting on?

Residents: Great!

President Ilham Aliyev: Wonderful. A great new road has been extended. It is a comfortable and modern road.

Residents: It is a great road. May Allah help you!

President Ilham Aliyev: There are photos here documenting the previous state of the road. It used to be an earth road. In fact, it became completely unserviceable after the mudslide. A new road has now been built, linking the villages of both Saatli and Imishli Districts. It is a very comfortable and nice road. Tens of thousands of people are using it. This is a momentous event. As you know, village roads are being restored and rebuilt in all our districts. Most roads in our villages were earth roads. There must be asphalt roads everywhere now. Special instructions have been issued. This work has begun everywhere, including Saatli District.

This is the first stage. This map shows everything. It is necessary to take extra measures to restore all village roads. After this has been done, it will be possible to drive along these roads comfortably.

Relevant instructions on the development of the district have been issued. As you know, special attention has been paid to this since the calamity, restoration and rehabilitation work is ongoing. A large settlement comprising 178 houses has been built. People have already moved in. Besides, 350 new houses have been built. Restoration and rehabilitation work is also ongoing because there are still houses in emergency condition. We will renovate them too in order to eliminate all the consequences of the calamity. Much of the work has been done. At present, the construction of schools, roads, houses and social facilities is under way. All this requires major resources. The Azerbaijani state is allocating these funds to improve the living standards of the people.

Resident: Dear Mr. President, let me cordially welcome you here. We are proud of you. May Allah protect you and send you luck in everything you do!

President Ilham Aliyev: Thank you. Economic issues are being resolved in Saatli District as well. New enterprises, plants and bases are under construction. An agricultural service base will be commissioned today. A cold-storage warehouse has been built. There is also a great need for that. Cold-storage warehouses are under construction is all our districts today, so that farmers could store their produce.

All these issues are covered under the program on the development of our districts. In the coming months, in particular this year and before the end of next year, the vast majority of problems associated with gasification of the district must be resolved. I do know that great attention should be paid to this issue as ever. Certain work has been done, but most residential settlements don’t have gas lines. They didn’t in the past either, while those that were available are now in disrepair.

Therefore, I have instructed the State Oil Company that all Azerbaijani residential settlements should be gasified before the end of 2012 as far as possible. Therefore, 95 per cent of the country’s territory will be gasified. As for Saatli District, gasification here should be complete because there are no mountain villages here. You may know that it is more difficult to supply gas to mountain villages. It is possible to say that local villages are not too apart. And we are also building roads. Therefore, I think all gas-related issues in Saatli should be resolved before the end of next year. This issue is always in the spotlight. I take an interest in this issue so that no time is wasted. We have both technical and financial capacities now. These issues are also part of the State Program.

Another issue of concern for citizens is drinking water. Unfortunately, this issue has been a thorn in our side for centuries because we did not have sufficient water sources. The lines built earlier are now in disrepair. There were no sewage lines in districts at all. This is a major project, a large program, and its implementation has started now. Work in Saatli hasn’t begun yet. I will issue the instruction to start work as soon as possible. We must try to implement this project before the end of 2013. This is also a very large project. It is difficult from both technical and economic standpoints, it requires major financial resources. But if we realize these two projects – the issues of gasification and drinking water plus sewage – it will be a great achievement. Living and working conditions will get even better. We must create new jobs. Work is under way, but unemployment and the jobless are still there. We must constantly pay attention to this issue.

The construction of a sports and rehabilitation center and a hospital has begun. A wonderful modern hospital will be built in Saatli. We are and will be doing all this work.

Residents: Inshallah! Thank you very much. May Allah help you! May you be healthy!

Resident: Dear Mr. President! I would like to welcome you on behalf of our residents. I used to work as a driver. In summer, we had to swallow dust driving along this road, while in winter we got stuck in the mud. I see this road now. We are 5 km from the district and we used to cover this distance in about an hour, maybe even more. Now we can reach the destination easily and quickly. We are thankful to you for that. May Allah protect you for us, for the people of Azerbaijan. We are always proud of you. Thank you for your attention.

President Ilham Aliyev: Thank you very much, thank you. This is a great road indeed. But this is only the first stage. The executive authority will submit new suggestions. Extra resources will be allocated and new roads built. We must make all village roads like this. This is a major social issue. Wonderful asphalt roads are under construction in Azerbaijani villages. This issue must and will be resolved.

Resident: Mr. President, during last year’s calamity this road was affected by the mudslide and became unusable. On your resolution, the road has been reconstructed and commissioned. Over 20,000 residents of 70 villages located along the Aras river will be using this road now. Mr. President, we are grateful to you on behalf of these people. Thank you.
President Ilham Aliyev: Thank you.

Resident: Our dear President, our people are also using this road. Ours village was one of the Saatli villages flooded in last year’s calamity. Our houses were built of air-dried brick. Now, thank God, strong stone houses are being built with your assistance. All people have been paid compensation. Our people can sleep in their homes today. Our dams have been fortified, we are no more worried about anything. Almost all our problems, including those related to water, have been resolved.

The whole world is seeing the unity of the state and the people in your person. Our residents understand this perfectly well and support you. Thank you very much.

President Ilham Aliyev: Thank you. Indeed, we can say that there were calamities on all continents last year. You saw it – fires, floods, earthquakes. This manifested itself, so to speak, in every country. The world has suffered heavy human losses. And we resettled all our people on time, created conditions and temporary settlements. We are now restoring the houses. Much of the work has been done. But there are still houses needing renovating. During registration the number of such houses was specified. After that, within a year, some houses became unusable as a result of the damage caused to them. The process of their re-registration is now under way. Therefore, we need to do even more than we planned last year. Additional funds will be allocated for that, so that we could do all this work properly. This is another issue causing certain questions, as far as I know. Instead of the destroyed houses, i.e. the houses built of air-dried brick, we are building new ones. These are wonderful and strong stone houses. But the brick houses that have not been destroyed are still there.

There is a certain injustice here. Those whose houses have been destroyed end up with better conditions than before, while those whose houses have survived are still living in them. So it is necessary to submit a proposal on this issue, so that we could see what extra work should be done to renovate the houses in need of renovation. This is a lot of work. We have come across houses in emergency condition not only in Saatli District but also in adjoining areas. But we will do it.

Resident: A new road to the Musali village has been commissioned. Last year, our Musali village and the village of Narimankand were also flooded. On your instruction the secondary school, the health facility, the post office and the mosque in the Narimankand village were renovated in a short period of time. We know very well how attentive you are to education. An enormous amount of work has been done in our district as regards education. Five large new schools have been built and commissioned. Dozens of school buildings have been refurbished. I would like to express our gratitude to you on behalf of all teachers, parents and students. I wish you family happiness.

President Ilham Aliyev: Thank you. School construction must be and is continued. But there are schools needing renovating. Over 2000 schools have been built in the last five to six years in line with a large program. But there are still many schools in emergency condition. Extra funds will be envisaged in the state budget this year so that we could renovate emergency schools before the end of the year. I think we will complete this program by the end of 2013. Thus, there will be no school in emergency or bad condition in Azerbaijan. This will be a great achievement because there are 4500 schools in the country of which a little more than 2000 have been built by us. But there are still around 2000 schools in need of certain renovation. We are aware of all these problems. It is important to know a problem, analyze it correctly and find ways of resolving it. Both socioeconomic and infrastructure issues – gasification, water management, irrigation – all these are very serious issues. People living here, in rural conditions, know very well that irrigation issues must also be resolved. So we are implementing specific programs on each district and the country as a whole.

Resident: Please allow me to salute and welcome you on behalf of the young people of our district. The meetings you have had with Azerbaijani youth lately have elated us a lot. Dear Mr. President, we all know that large-scale work is under way in our republic, new Olympic centers are being built and commissioned. A new Olympic center has been built and commissioned in the neighboring Sabirabad District. We are hearing that a new Olympic center will also be commissioned in Imishli District. There is only Saatli District left. Please help us too. Azerbaijani youth stands by you, we are proud of you.

President Ilham Aliyev: It is good that you have raised this issue. There are so many Olympic centers now that it is difficult to remember where we have them and where we don’t. The center to be opened in Imishli today is 31st. Therefore, a wonderful Olympic center will be established in Saatli too. And it is necessary to set up a Youth House next to it. As we have already indicated, a State Program “Azerbaijani youth in 2011-2015” is being developed now. It must envisage the construction of youth centers both in Baku and in districts. Therefore, an instruction will be issued in this regard.

Resident: Mr. President, let me also welcome you. I am extremely proud today because in 1998, when our district public met with the ever-living great leader, you were taking part. Ten years later, in September 2008, by the grace of Allah, I was lucky enough to take part in your meeting with the district public.

President Ilham Aliyev: In the square, at the opening of the museum.

Resident: Addressing you at that meeting, I asked you about a problem. It was the problem of electricity. Thanks to your attention, care and assistance, the electricity problem was fully resolved in a short period of time. Today our people are not experiencing power cuts. I am even more proud today. My joy is boundless. I am rejoicing together with all our people because I am meeting with you for the third time. May Allah send you happiness, thank you.

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Representatives of the public had their picture taken with President Ilham Aliyev.