NationStates Jolt Archive

Tiastan

Recent housing reforms have demanded that the dirty, ramshackle and homemade housing in urban areas must be condemned and demolished, and the poverty-stricken people living in these slums have been forcibly evicted and "requested" to join labor teams on the outskirting areas they used to live in, building communal housing tenements, stores and commons for their own re-housing in larger Taistani cities like Tiastan City, Thana, and Zepotec; with plans being drawn to include other parts of the country in which urban poor have been living in condemnable buildings.

However, while the housing problems will be solved eventually, living conditions for the labour teams are as abysmal as the slums they used to be in. Free papers in Tiastan show pictures of families crying as government wrecking teams demolish their homes, and several of the more imaginative editors call the reforms "War on the Poor" and "Cambodia, urban style". Anarchists and more libertarian socialists are organizing protests and road blocks against the reform, but no serious revolt seems to have formed.

With labour teams organized, there have now been several cases of citizen "labour dodgers", and all have been charged with contrarevolutionary 'wrecking' by the Tiastani government; and incarcerated for 5 to 30 days in a regular prison.

Foundations for large tenement areas are now being laid by the citizen labour teams, supplemented by professional government construction companies in several areas; but it might well take many months before any of the projects are complete. In the meantime, system critics continue to decry the project as discriminating and mean against the worst-off in Tiastani society.





OOC>> Anyone? All are welcome to post, even if it just applause, condemnation or feedback.

OCC:
Ohhh... Civil Conflict. Tagged.

Expect an official announcement sometime soon, something along the lines of debt relief, factory offers and the like. Nothing gov't, though.

The People's Republic applauds this effort to help the impoverished people Tiastan to improve their own existance. However, we would warn the Government of Tiastan to be aware that Communists may seek to use the plight of these people to stir up trouble, possibly even going as far as to attempt to overthrow your government. To help you avoid this reprehensible scenario, we are willing to share intelligence on the identities of known and suspected Communist terrorists, so that your security services can try to prevent them attempting to stir up revolution against your government.

While the Tiastan government would probably not label itself such, it is an authoritarian socialist government, and fears of "communism" is not as pervasive here - after all, a lot of them are in government! Shildonian concerns are noted however - Libertarian socialists and other "bad revolutionaries" abound, and would no doubt like to exploit this situation to sow dissent and resistance to the central government.

However, the Internal Affairs Commission heartily appreciates aid in apprehending any terrorists inside Tiastani borders.

New criticism surfaced this week, as an interviewed labour team overseer noted concerns that the apartment and tenement blocks under construction only qualify as "sub-standard" living conditions. Blueprints used are newer USSR designs modified to accomodate existing technology, and several of the tenements will have small living quarters, communal bathrooms, sub-par electric stoves; and plans for maintenance indicate that few funds and little manpower are allocated to maintenance and repair.

One critic has been arrested today, and the minister of structural policy, Tien Manh, rebuffed the expressed sentiments, explaining that he relied on "tenant activism" to improve the living conditions; and showed designs to form tenant soviets - Councils of citizens formed around the building they inhabit, encouraging them to aid each other with improvement, maintenance and repair of their living space; with state-funded technicians on stand by to aid.

Several county councils have expressed displeasure at the ministers remarks; objecting on the grounds that the slum-tenants will not be inclined to work for their own good unless being forced into labour.

In other news, the burgeoning video game industry in Tiastan has been destroyed by government decision - Tiastani children and adolescent health has already been notably poorer as the young play video games instead of getting a physical hobby. The public outcry was not as great as expected, many knowing this would come as the Tiastani government health council focuses a great deal on P.E.

Aside from your authoritarian mode of government there seem to be many parallels between your own program and the public-housing campaign under the “constitutional dictatorship” in Geuvara. We however employed students and the unemployed – a practice that still continues although in modified form since the more crude days of the “revolution”. Do you have more information about your nation available?

Before a more comprehensive guide is released by the notoriously slow Tiastani foreign ministry; the following may be widely known about the People's Republic of Tiastan or PRT:

A well-to-do nation set in a beautiful bio-diverse and rich region of the pacific, Tiastan is enjoying(or suffering, depending on your point of view) a period of authoritarian progressive socialism since the glorious revolution of 1977 that overthrew the Tiastani royal family and the opressive feudal rule of the aristocracy that had till then ruled the Tiastani lands.

Now, the Communal Central Commision rules benevolently, although it does so with a rather firm hand - Failure to abide by the edicts, plans and reforms set forth by the CCC can mean incarceration or forced labour. Interestingly enough(for an authoritarian nation), free and open elections take place; it must be noted that there are really only communist and social-democratic parties in these elections - Overtly capitalist or conservative political movements and parties are either stifled by popular resistance or government censure.

The Tiastani economy is reasonably strong at the moment. Trade connections to socially liberal nations are good, and the current ruling party(National Progressive Marxist party of Tiastan) has no compunctions about trading most commodities(although not valuable minerals and armaments) with conservative nations. Primary exports are agricultural goods, fish, fruit, machine parts, computer hardware and various ores.

Gruenberg would suggest that Tiastan might benefit from a development loan to aid its urban regeneration projects. If the government of Tiastan would be amenable to such a request, Gruenberg would be able to negotiate for an International Development Bank review, pending the allocation of development funds.

OOC: Nice stuff - if you're not interested in my post, don't worry.

Considering the stable state of the Tiastani national economy and payment balance, funding the urban housing renewal should be achievable without outside help.

However, the long needed modernizing of both the civilian and military power grids, water treatment plants and hospital equipment is still halting thanks to overspending on environmental and political sectors. Seeking a development grant or loan would be considered prudent by the CCC, particularly if the nation of Gruenberg would sponsor one such.

We commend the nation of Tiastan for their forward-thinking approach to national strategic planning.

The International Development Bank will conduct a brief review of the state of Tiastan's infrastructure: any additional information the government offers will be most useful in this respect. Proposals for a loan will then be drafted.

Loans from IDB capital resources are typically repayable over a 32-year period, including an eight-year grace period. Interest will be administered solely for the purposes of covering service costs, and will typically only be 1-1.5% per annum, subject to annual adjustments.

Initially, we would suggest that the IDB will be able to furnish a loan covering power grid construction and extension, water treatment and basic healthcare provision, and also to provide technical assistance in setting up relevant programmes. We will announce the loan amount shortly.

With no further obstructions to the urban renewal labour, it continues on track.