What can the residents of the apartment building affected by the explosion at 15 Bauskas Street expect, was decided by the deputies of the Riga City Council's Housing and Environment Committee.
Its chairwoman Elina Treija (National Alliance) began by expressing condolences to the Gaso employee. It is good that not many people have died! “I want to thank the senior of the building Andris Viksne,” said Ms. Treija.
They may also demolish it
The head of the Municipal Police Andrey Aronov reported that law enforcement is securing the perimeter. Security is currently being provided 24/7 – at least until January 14. 26 people were evacuated from the building and placed in 2 buses. Currently, 6 people are accommodated in a hostel on Prusu Street in Kengarags, with which there is an agreement with the municipality, while the others have settled with relatives. Why were they all taken there? New Year, all other places of accommodation are occupied.
Mr. Aronov did not disclose the true reasons for the tragic explosion – examinations are ongoing as part of the criminal process being conducted by the State Police.
As for the decision on the impossibility of further exploitation of the panel building built in the 1980s, representatives of the Construction Administration claim that until a detailed examination of the technical condition is conducted, returning to the building is impossible. Preliminary work is already underway at the site to assess the situation – but it is likely to last at least a month. The costs of the examination will be covered by the municipal budget, but until the final conclusion is reached, it will not be possible to enter the building (not even for five minutes and not even to the apartment located at the opposite end of the building!).
Legally, the residents are responsible for the building – i.e., the general meeting. This is stipulated by the Civil Law, and therefore the owners are obliged to act as soon as possible.
– The Construction Law does not speak so much about the responsibility of the municipality, – explained A. Aronov. The latter can intervene if there is no action from the owners – but in such a case, the costs will be recovered from the residents. The police chief also spoke about the possibility of subsequent demolition of the building.
“Everyone is responsible for their actions”
This axiom was stated by the director of the Housing Policy Department of the Ministry of Economics Martins Auders. In his opinion, in the near future, it is necessary to conduct insurance for apartment buildings in general (not for private housing), and the costs for this will be included in the apartment bill.
Alexander Koposov, a board member of AS Gaso, pointed out that the responsibility for the equipment lies with the end user. There are about 6000 cases similar to the incident that occur annually in Latvia.
“On January 1, we were fulfilling our duties. When our team entered, we started working with the meter and seal, noted an illegal connection, gas concentration. It was decided to seal the pipe, another team arrived, and an act was drawn up,” said Koposov.
At these words, a scandal broke out in the hall. Residents of the building who came to the Riga City Council started shouting questions, to which Ms. Treija repeated: “This meeting is for the deputies, you do not have the right to ask questions.” Finally, Mr. Koposov continued – on January 2, an emergency vehicle arrived again at the call, employees with a gas analyzer checked the concentration on the staircase, and no dangerous indicators were found. Vibration and increased concentration were recorded on the 5th floor – the analyzer began to emit critical level sounds. At that moment, one of the employees went to shut off the gas, calling the management, the fire service, and the police along the way.
– The worker managed to close the valve, went to help his colleague, and then there was an explosion.
Another nervous exchange of remarks occurred at this point, this time between an opposition deputy and the committee chair. The opposition member accused Ms. Treija of usurping the powers of the moderator. “I was prepared,” the politician said somewhat offended.
For his part, Mr. Koposov added that the gas company is “ready to cooperate.” For example, it will release informational materials.
By the way, which company was conducting commercial gas trading through the Gaso pipeline and got into a conflict with the deceased resident, which led to the need for disconnection – the head of Gaso called it a commercial secret and promised to inform the RD deputies only in writing.
Nothing foreshadowed
Irina Kondrate, director of the Welfare Department of the Riga City Council, reported that in this case, residents are entitled to crisis assistance, which is issued in the event of accidents that occurred not due to the fault of a person.
– If a person lived at this address, paid bills, we can identify them, – the official explained the criteria. The money is allocated in the amount of 1 minimum wage (780 euros) for a separately living person, and 2 wages for a family regardless of its size (1560 euros). So far, 50 applications have been received, which are being processed at social assistance centers on Smilga Street, Aglonas, and Ieriku.
According to I. Kondrate, payments are proceeding normally, “no special questions have arisen.” The apartment where the explosion occurred belonged to the municipality. It was examined, normal repairs were noted, and photo documentation was conducted. No violations were found.
Unfortunately, the municipal housing was not insured...
Insurance is not a panacea
One of the deputies recounted that in her experience of renting housing, there was a case where a tenant flooded the lower floors. And despite having insurance, the insurance amount was not enough to cover the damages. The owner went to the Supreme Court, and the verdict was – the owner is responsible for everything that happens on their property, and then can file a recourse claim.
As for the building on Bauskas Street, it is currently disconnected from water, heating, and electricity. And, of course, from gas. So there is no need to pay for anything, the building manager Inga Tite reassured. “This is the first such case in our practice,” she added.
The issue of the savings fund for the affected building was raised in the council – after all, it could be used to restore the building. Although after meeting with the residents, there was an opinion that the money could be distributed to the residents. “This is not within the competence of the manager,” said I. Tite. A decision can be made by the residents at the general meeting on January 14.
“The situation is terrible”
There are a total of 74 one-room apartments in the building, of which 4 are owned by the municipality. Riga is urgently reviewing the queue for social housing for the affected residents.
Karlis Grinbergs – director of the Riga Energy Agency, was the only one who spoke about the restoration of the building. But he did so in the context of his institution – how to switch the building to the use of electric stoves.
Julia Kapustinskaya, a resident of the apartment that was directly under the epicenter of the explosion, said that “the situation is terrible”:
– We all have nothing left, no roof over our heads. We did not blow up this house...
The building belonged to a factory, later its former workers privatized the apartments, made repairs, invested their souls...
The resident herself lost expensive medications in the explosion. “The assistance does not solve almost anything. I go from department to department, but no one cancels my work,” complained Kapustinskaya.
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