Construction....

Construction here seems to last FOREVER! There's a road that Arun and I take to walk to the gym or our favorite Thai Restaurant, Devarana... and I'm convinced it's in a perpetual state of construction. They dig it up.... then rebuild it.... then all of a sudden there's a water mane that explodes and floods the street.... so they dig it up again... and rebuild it. It's endless!


It's not just government construction that moves at a snail's pace. Most people that purchase an apartment (flat) get a shelled space in a building. So it's up to them to determine the layout. They choose where to put up walls, closets, windows, and decide on all the interior decor from baseboards to flooring to paint.

Most flats take between 3-4 years to complete. Yes, YEARS.
In the US- it's an average of about 6-9 months to build a 3,000 + square foot house. And if it's commercial property- it can be up and running in no time! But not here.
There are delays for permits. There are delays to obtain supplies. There are delays due to weather. There are delays due to worker-shortages.


Of course- if you have money, you can bribe officials and speed up the process. Permits can be obtained overnight (or maybe not at all!) and rare supplies shipped from Italy or other exotic locations can simply breeze through customs. That's one thing I hear all the time in Ukraine- if you have money- you can throw it at a problem and it will suddenly disappear!