By Manouchehr Arghavani:
I was one of those who cooperated with Eng. Sirous Khosravi in the reconstruction project, particularly equipping the network system of Marker Yazd. During this cooperation, I witnessed damages done to this complex due to negligence of various cycles of the Zoroastrian Association. Now that news of Marker Yazd is hot, and authorities have recently been showing interest in this complex, I decided to write a note for the Zoroastrian site and comment on certain points, in the hope of helping to improve the situation.
In Mr Pourrostami’s note he addressed the lack of attention to this issue. He stated:
“Markar Yazd was managed by a board of trustees. One of the members, the secretary, was a resident of Yazd at the time and a teacher at Yazd University. The other four members were legal members and from these four one represented those who helped to repair the Pardis training center. Because he Left Iran and for reasons that I am not aware of (maybe due to his age and illness) he was replaced by the then MP, and since the representative/teacher in Pardis center, two years later, was selected as the Zoroastrian MP, therefore, the three members because actually one. This board of trustees , in practice has not operated efficiently, because one person had three votes.”
In this context, despite repeated complaints from various individuals to the Tehran Zoroastrian Association about the mismanagement of Marker Yazd, the association remained indifferent. Consequently, the great potential of Marker Yazd was lost to the Zoroastrian community in Yazd. It was also mentioned that the quality of leadership and management can be observed in the stark contrast between the Marker sites in Tehran and Yazd, both in terms of their conditions and how they are utilized.
The key question remains: What differentiates Marker in Yazd from its counterpart in Tehran? In Tehran, management changes and the introduction of a think tank have brought dynamism to the environment. However, in Yazd, the lack of change in management and outdated methods have prevented this from happening. In my opinion, rather than haste, the terms delay and negligence would be more appropriate.
With thanks,
Manouchehr Arghavani – September 2024
