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Town targets Roma enclave

Litvínov officials present solution to social tension in Janov

By Markéta Hulpachová
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
December 10th, 2008 issue

Weeks after a racially motivated clash between police and rightist extremists near Janov, a predominantly Roma neighborhood in the north Bohemian town of Litvínov, the town’s leadership introduced a controversial plan for resolving the area’s long-standing social problems.
At a Dec. 8 meeting with around 70 disgruntled Janov residents, Litvínov Mayor Milan Šťovíček and Deputy Mayor Martin Klika unveiled plans for a zero-tolerance policy toward “problematic families” in Janov. “We will no longer tolerate people who disturb the peace and commit misdemeanors and criminal acts,” Šťovíček announced at the meeting, according to the Czech News Agency (ČTK).
The tense situation in Janov, which escalated in a series of extremist rallies last month, is the result of a poorly planned privatization process in which the Litvínov Town Hall sold off town-owned apartments to various real estate firms. Consequently, the Janov neighborhood became a destination for low-income Roma families unable to pay rent in flats the real estate firms owned in more lucrative parts of the country and in Slovakia.
To combat the neighborhood’s most visible problem of high crime rates and resident complaints, Litvínov officials have pledged to cooperate with social services, police, building owners, hygienic inspectors and other authorities to crack down on non payers, illegal residents and welfare abusers. “We are trying to find out where the families moving to Janov are coming from and whether they collect social benefits. We began with the most problematic houses,” Klika said. “Town and state police have immediately started dealing with reports of possible misdemeanors and criminal acts.”
While increasing police presence, officials rejected the Roma residents’ request for a watch group comprising both Roma and non-Roma locals. “It’s a forceful tactic that will only further divide the population,” said Radek Grundza, who represents Janov’s Roma community. “Our suggestion ... could have brought a solution to the problem. Instead, this zero-tolerance approach only makes the situation worse by specifically targeting the Roma.”
Litvínov officials also face a dearth of funds to finance the planned crackdown. Klika hopes to fill this void with money from the government, which recently reclassified Janov as an “excluded locality” in an effort to increase access to crime prevention and social funding programs.

Markéta Hulpachová can be reached at mhulpachova@praguepost.com


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