Czech town of Karviná wants to demolish former ghetto ASAP

The Karviná town hall wants to demolish the former Vagónka ghetto on the outskirts of town as soon as possible. Scrap-metal collectors have started dismantling the houses there and the municipal police are unable to maintain order. The settlement, which was primarily inhabited by Romani people, was evicted this year by the town hall because it had become an embarrassing place of great disorder. The Czech Press Agency reports that Šárka Swiderová, spokesperson for the Karviná town hall, made the announcement about the demolition today.

The town hall decided this year to evict the residents of the Vagónka settlement when they allegedly began destroying even the homes that had been repaired. The town had invested millions of Czech crowns into reconstructing the neighborhood several years ago. Instead of a housing settlement, an industrial zone for small and medium enterprises will now be built there. “We already moved most of the families into other apartments. Two families have remained and we are still looking for apartments for them. They pay their rent on time and have leases, so they are entitled to an apartment of a similar standard,” Swiderová said.

One family, however, is refusing to move. They have no lease with the town for an apartment and therefore no right to one. “That case is waiting for the court to render a decision. Exactly one week after most of the families were moved out, people started looting Vagónka – and not just scrap-metal collectors. Even though entry into the settlement is forbidden, they have dismantled the roofs, cut up cables, and taken apart walls in between rotations of the police patrols,” Swiderová said.

The town has therefore decided to accelerate the demolition work. “The scrap-metal collectors are taking the houses apart in front of our eyes and it is practically impossible to keep a non-stop patrol there. It’s very dangerous. The demolition is planned for this week,” the spokesperson said. The demolition is expected to cost as much as CZK 100 000.

Swiderová says the decision to move people out and demolish the houses has turned out to be the best one, as the town’s investment into repairs was not paying off. “On the other hand, the move has sparked a lot of emotion. The decent majority of residents are reproaching us for taking care of the inadaptables. Of course, the town is only doing what the law dictates,” she said.