Housing, 1

OW. the open doorway.

‘Where she and her husband and five-year-old
“son live is.a room in a second-floor flat of acon-
crete apartment block in anew suburb of Riga,
the capital of the Baltic republic of Latvia in the
_ Soviet Union.

Four. “easy, steps takes a visitor across the width
7 of. fhe,room Ht 8 six steps from: one e end to the

chen,: ‘Hallway and bathroom with his parents, .

\ fora larger. place, they -have ta. have three
children and. then go’ on a lengthy waiting list, -

Housing i is the most critical of all the problems
facing: citizens in the Soviet. Union. ; .. :

parents to share. cramped _ apartments with

- “(children and grandchildren. What is built is-of
- 2 varying quality.

_ The way. in which the housing complexes: are

‘ope rated reflects some of what is wrong with the

~~ citizens,

“The couple shares the flat of two F rooms, | a kite ;

They. are expecting another child. To: qualify.

“way in which .the Soviet state provides for its

elcome to our home. This is ‘where We |
. tive,” she says in stepping back from °°

There isn’t enough to go around, forcing ©

There is, for instance, no control over the heat

in’an apartment. The temperature is whatever the
-person.in charge of the central heating system
decides.

This not only reduces the contral a ‘family has

over its ‘environment but eliminates whatever,

savings might be accomplished by reducing
energy use.
- Housing is also regarded in Latvia, one of the
three Baltic republics occupied by the Soviet
Union at the start of the Second World War, asa
method of Soviet control and domination.
Only one per cent of new housing goes to Lat-
; vians, says the woman who lives with her hus-

_ band son in the one room. The rest is allocated to.

"Russians already living in or. those moving to
Latvia.

, clothing, shoes, some ‘appliances, hardware and

It follows a Soviet policy of turning Latvia and |

‘the other republics into industrial areas manned
by people from outside and a policy that while
recognizing national . identities, places them
below that of the central Soviet state.

: _ © Latvians already make up barely 50 per cent of

: the republic’s population of under three million
people.- The prospect of more Russians moving
in-increases fears native inhabitants will lose
more control.

’ There'are now more Russians than Latvians
living in the republic’s capital city of Riga and
some rural areas on the border of the Russian
republic are populated entirely by Russians.

‘There are similiar situations in the other two.

Baltic states of Lithuania and Estonia.
“The Russians must go,”* says the woman. in
_order to create a free Latvia. She adds that most

ig OF those moving: to Latvia are, migrants,, people .
es POM. other" Jepublics, who . have given: up their.

.’ own ethnic:heritageto become Soviets, And since

.. the dominant Soviet republic is Russia, the peo-
ple then become Russians.

Creating a free Latvia, the woman continues,

_Means controlling the -borders to eliminate

: migrants moving. in, shutting down the Soviet

: factories which employ the migrants and getting

_ newspaper has a phrase for the overall economic .

‘clerk, turns back. anid SAYS, in English, , “Six

- around the city which sell books and souvenir-

“marine foods, Another is devoted to poultry,

“povernmént-lixed prices and shortages...

rid of the Soviet a army,

The latter position is perhaps the: ‘most ironic -*
in the Latvian wish for independence because of -
the new found freedom in the former eastern

European client states.

Part of that. freedom’ is the withdrawal of —
Soviet forces. They are: returning tothe Soviet .

Union: and: regard: Latvia’ as-a‘ prized location
because it has a higher standard of living and a
more ‘moderate. climate than elsewhere. -

The Soviet armed forces. are. being'cut, in size)
and those going into’ retirement are: ‘albo- moving ag
to Latvia for the same reasons me

“ikarte??™

_ Holding ‘a hat he. wants to. buy, the

- visitor shrugs in response to: the ques-

tion from the ‘store clerk: and Says,
“Tourist?” .

This time the clerk shrugs, looks to another

roubles, 50 kopecks."

‘Even. clothing ‘articles are subject to » sales con- ;

trols in Riga’s large central department store.
To purchase something, a buyer needs an in-
dentity card ~ a vizikarte — _ ~ to Prove that he or
she lives in Riga. -
» The card may not seem: ‘important toa visitor
walking around the upper: three floors offering

jewelry.
’ It does become crucial on the first floor of the
store because that’s where the food supplies are.
Residents need the card and ration stamps to buy
the basics such as-milk and bread.’
The: situation is. different in other . stores

type goods. °

It’s also different in the four large aircraft
hanger-shaped buildings on - the edge of the
downtown.

Here farmers from the region and from other
Soviet republics market ‘produce, vegetables,
fruit and clothing,

One building contains nothing but fish and

pork and meats. These are sold by collectives, the
central food production organizations set up as
part of the Soviet economic system.

As with elsewhere in the Soviet Union and
those east: European ‘countries developing their
own economies, the issue remains one of supply
and affordability.

The.cost of a kilo of potatoes, the most basic
food of an average person's diet, is now more
than one rouble. It’s high when placed against an
average:salary of 150 roubles a month.

An article in a local English-language

Situation of identity ‘cards, ration” stamps,

_.The phrase, repressed inflation, means. having

r money in your pocket with nothing to buy with

___ the result of lowering a rouble’s value.

It adds that'a black market in which the rouble

- is traded for hard, or western, currency at prices

higher than the official exchange rate further
devaluates the worth of a rouble.

_ Major problems
_ from pollution —

HAHN PHOTO

Terrace Standard editor Rod
Link recently visited the Baltic
States af the Soviet Union.

“+ BGfopey to the east st of Poland,

: aper mills Enemy of
Tallinn. Must be clos-
ed dawn.”

The tour guide

. “pointed out from an observa-

. tion: area overlooking the

as capital city of Estonia’ toward a

collection of industrial stacks '

ae partially hidden in a haze.

ll f"Today it’s not so bad.
a Yesterday, it was different.”

roe

coy “The one common: theme in

the Baltic’ states, and that of
astern Europe, is the amount
of pollution: caused by: massive
“and unregulated - industrializa-

cy Homes

.Even din rolling ‘countryside
- the sharp blueness of the sky is
muted down ‘around the
: horizons by an orangeish- brown
jaze. --

-ly.take’it for morning. haze and
-expects it to be burned off as the :
~sun rises, But it‘neyer does,

There ate no,pollution ‘con-'

“dookon to the three tiny
‘ vaand eps of Estonia, Lat-

: . boidel the’) Balti¢ Sea.

~yearg,- the area hasbeen *.
divided’ and its residents ‘sub:

tusiia {ath

» more dangerous pollution.

Early.i in the day, one can easi- :

-trols.on vehicles.and the engines -

~ Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania,

',, complete. ‘independence, ended ©

” TAt.various times over the past at the start of the Second, World

uae rule: by Danes, by.

lidified BS. part ats
la

are very inefficient. Clouds of
exhaust routinely spew from the
backs of large transports and
passenger cars.

The Baltic Sea, a long arm of
the Atlantic Ocean, bordered
partially by the Baltic states and
the Soviet Union, is considered
dead in spots because of
discharge covering its floor.

And there’s.a form of even

Agricultural products, grown
in the region surrounding the
Chernobyl nuclear power plant
which had’ one reactor rupture
int 1986, continue to be ex-
- ported,

’ Fallout continues to affect
agriculture, Some farmers sell
without ,having their products
checked. ° o

‘Although there are TV
bulletins: warning. against such
activity, unwary. customers as
‘far north asthe Baltic states
have made such purchases and
have received skin rashes in
_Teturn.

’ FOUR LARGE halls on the edge of the downtown section of the Lat.
-vian city of Riga offer various foodstuffs for sale. In other stores,
there is ratloning of basics such as bread and milk. -

on brink of freedom |

after the First World War, when
the re-organization of Europe
resulted in the creation of the |
independent countries of,

many invaded the Soviel Union
anid occupied the Baltic states.

~. The Soviet influence returned
at the end of Second World War

This: brief ‘period, the only"

“to the Soviet. ‘Union.
time itn which: the three had

i
- afea ahd a large influx of people

occiipying force,
military presence
y' the, large numbers of

brought int

Union wg |
This périod of Soviet rile was
al cunt Nazk--Gere ns

and the three were integrated in-,

¢ from: other: teas’ of the Soviet
“Unik Ay

ang, regard. ihe Soviet ", mi

ta work, k In i

In the past several years, the
three have begun to re-assert
their independence in the con-
text of Soviet. Jeader Mikhail
Gorbachev’ Le

of. tie Soviet economy and'cen-
the

“little.

‘y ee its: former eastern ‘European dient slates

* © Intowrist’s lock*on the. tourism ee

‘policy of jf
perestraika i slesnost. “EB
_ That integration has resulted, “s
‘an: industrialization of the..

ponies For,now, ~
ree! tepublics “face a f§
niudus.and eertain, future. =,

ae me ee ewe cc nee te eee OE rey De ale se th cat, ee er a eel ele PO ol fn a Of IP op om

etaptia city: oF Latvia: It was a gift from the
- peaple of East Berlin to the e Soviet repubiic and is regarded as a symbol of the freedom Latvians want
from the Soviet Union. Graffiti and flowers mark local reaction’ lo the wail’s significance. DINA VON

1y-for your travel il
commodation inside |

at: you | ‘want to do.

selected | hotels in’ cities.
} rerun by’ Intourist, the very a and s me
* times: ‘very. Frusi ate te
/ You'll find: Ante

» posible, Ws. ust. ia ‘you h :

i ds" tg treat taut ‘as would ‘a
kindergarten teacher in’ explaining the'rules of haw to go to ©
the bathroom. Again, it’s something you have'to,get used to.

than: what’ You: might’ ‘expect. Hotel roor
500 .

.* The: requirement’ of: staying . ‘only at t ele
~ restttet travelling options, but there’ $ spon 3 to prevent tak

etn goods. for; western: money, That.can ‘come: in handy.
becat théreare shortages ‘of. even the’ most basic of supplies:

Once-inside: ‘the ‘Soviet ‘Union; pay for as’ many things. as
snoubles, A® preferential exchange’ rate: for | ,
jurist brings 5.6: roubles to-the US ‘dollar... “
That's‘adot considering the average Soviet worker, makes”
0 roublés:a. month. Your. ‘best bet ig to use small”
ation travellers’ cheques... (=
a Th arate arises ib.how. to spend: your, roubles, ‘There
; 00-6 € rationed and

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