The Mayor of Maglizh Dusho Gavazov on the "house of horrors" in front of FAKTI: Let people not be afraid to report it

The home for the elderly in the village of Yagoda almost turned the country upside down after it was discovered that elderly people were being cared for there in very poor conditions. After a woman's report, the Agency for the Quality of Social Services (AKSU) and the District Prosecutor's Office in Stara Zagora were notified, so that the story could begin to unravel... The Mayor of Maglizh Dusho Gavazov spoke to FAKTI.

- Mr. Gavazov, when did you find out about the problems in the home for the elderly in the village of Yagoda. Many inspections have been carried out over the years, there have been prescriptions...
- I want to make one important clarification right from the start. The social home is located on the territory of the municipality Muglizh, but there is no legislative connection with the municipality of Muglizh. The main body that is involved is the Agency for the Control of Social Services (AKSU) at the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, Medical Supervision and so on, not to mention everyone, but the hat is the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy. I know that over the last 4-5 years there have been six inspections by AKSU in this nursing home.

- What period are we talking about, which years…
- Since 2020. At least that's what I think. There have been six inspections, four of which could not be carried out because the owners of the so-called "nursing homes" did not allow the inspectors. For me, it is absurd that the state cannot enter and inspect a nursing home. That was at that time. And let me move on to the facts, because for several days now I have had the displeasure of explaining that We are state institutions, we cannot work on the principle of "one man said", "one woman said" and so on. State institutions do not work with rumors and unconfirmed data. For the first time, the Maglizh municipal administration received a signal from a woman from Burgas, whose loved one is placed in the home. She reports inhumane treatment of people there. This thing happened on November 14, 2024. On November 20, 2024, the Maglizh municipality - on that day I was replaced by Deputy Mayor Reni Maleva - sent a signal to the competent institutions - AKSU and the Stara Zagora District Prosecutor's Office. Then, at the meeting a few days ago in the Committee on Labor and Social Policy in the National Assembly, it became clear from the words of the Minister of Social Affairs Borislav Gutsanov, Deputy Minister Ivan Krastev, and Mrs. Tahova, who is the director of AKSU, that this signal was forwarded precisely by Municipality of Maglizh and he became the reason for all subsequent actions. After that, an inspection was carried out in the home by AKSU employees. Of course, I also authorized a representative from the municipality - our social activities expert, but they were not allowed into the home once again. And this provoked all subsequent actions.

- So you only received a specific signal at the end of last year and the state took action to be able to enter the home only on June 6, 2025?
- Exactly. That's what I mean - when there is synergy between local government and state administration, things can happen. On June 6, the state with all its power in the person of the Minister of Justice Georgi Georgiev, the Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Policy Ivan Krastev, under the supervision of the Stara Zagora District Prosecutor's Office, entered the home. During this inspection - in my capacity as mayor of Maglizh, I was asked, if possible, to provide assistance to the law enforcement agencies to be allowed into the home, because there was still a possibility of obstruction. In order not to use brute force as a last resort by the Ministry of Interior, I provided the necessary assistance and so the authorized bodies were allowed in.

- It sounds more than strange how the state cannot exercise its power to resolve a given case. How does that happen?
- Every citizen of the Republic of Bulgaria knows that when there is a refusal to a state institution to enter and check something that is subject to its control, the least that can be done is to signal the bodies of the Ministry of Interior, because then, since it is not possible to enter voluntarily, forcibly. Then things become different. I want to debunk the myths that the residents of the village of Yagoda, the mayor of the village of Yagoda, did not notify the authorities. After there have been four refusals by state institutions to enter, this is indicative enough. But I want to direct the thinking of citizens in another direction, because I ask myself what these relatives of people are in homes that have accepted without complaint the fact that they cannot enter the living quarters where their loved ones live.

At least to see for themselves the conditions in which they live.

What are these relatives who have not filed a single report with the municipal administration for so many years - whether in Maglizh or elsewhere? I don't know if there are similar reports in other state institutions, so for me the problem is not administrative. Let people not be afraid to file reports of irregularities. And it is not right to now reproach the residents of the village of Yagoda, the mayor of the village of Yagoda. In my opinion, all those previous principals of the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, all those control bodies that have checked, should think about the problem. And again I come back to the fact that - purely humanly, people should be interested in the conditions in which their loved ones - mothers, fathers, etc. remain.

If there were similar reports from relatives, without wanting to shift the issue of the responsibility of the institutions, I think things would be much different.

Now I can ask a rhetorical question. What is the fault, for example, of my social work expert in the municipality, who is now being summoned by various investigative bodies, that someone somewhere previously did not do their job.

- But where does the problem appear then...
- Otherwise, look... The problem is mainly human. That is, we - as people, have somehow learned to run after problems, after tragedies and then look for the right culprits. I will allow myself to direct your attention, because I am a doctor after all, to something extremely important. For me, this problem would not have been allowed to occur if there were at least three well-functioning things in the state. First, prevention of dementia. This is a disease that can be delayed with adequate treatment, with adequate rehabilitation.

And how many of our mothers, fathers, relatives, etc. have access to fast and quality healthcare.

Secondly, we all know about the shortage of nurses and orderlies - they are simply lacking. A large part of nurses work in two or three places because of their low salaries. I am a doctor and I know how a nurse who performed 500 procedures the previous evening goes to a similar nursing home the next day as a medical staff member. Well, I ask - what will be the quality of her work towards these people who have needs, after she is tired? Thirdly, what happened with the opening of such medical specialties in geriatrics (b.r. - Geriatrics or geriatric medicine is a part of medicine that studies the occurrence, development, treatment and prevention of diseases in the elderly) to eliminate the problems of the elderly. This is what is currently missing in the country. And with the entire set of measures that have already been declared as ready to be taken by all ministries, it is good that they are implemented. In general, these are problems related to the so-called human potential. When there is a lack of adequate and prepared people, even the best intentions can remain unrealized.