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NO LIFELINE FOR BORDER COMMUNITIES YET: OFFICIALS SAY 'BAD WEATHER' ACCOUNTS FOR DELAY IN STRATEGIC ROAD CONSTRUCTION
Society | 25.11.14 | 11:48
GOHAR ABRAHAMYAN
ArmeniaNow reporter
Despite the sun, rain, wind and snow, after ten long months of
construction work the Armenian Ministry of Transport and Communication
managed to partially complete the three-kilometer-long road of high
strategic importance in the province of Tavush mainly connecting
border communities with the provincial center of Ijevan. However,
Tavush residents will probably not be able to use this road and this
winter again they will have to reach their hometowns along the roads
accompanied by enemy fire hoping for their luck, because paving works
of this alternative bypass were hindered by the recent unexpected
bad autumn weather conditions.
Enlarge Photo Enlarge Photo
Still last year, on October 22, 2013, 19-year-old conscript Garik
Petrosyan was killed by an Azeri bullet, while several others received
wounds of various severity, as Azeri soldiers opened gunfire on
passing vehicles in the Paravakar section of the Ijevan-Berd highway.
Immediately after the incident a decision was made to shut the road
to prevent further losses. However weeks later, despite Azeri fire
the road was reopened by the demand of the citizens, because 16
communities were in isolation.
This is the only paved road leading to these communities, many of
which are on the frontline, the other two roads - Chambarak-Berd and
Ijevan-Gandzasar-Berd - still inherited from the Soviet time are both,
to put it mildly, in near-unusable condition.
Still last November when the media - and ArmeniaNow first - raised
this question, Henrik Kochinyan, the head of the Armenian Roads
Directorate state non-profit organization at the Ministry of Transport
and Communications, said that "at the moment their reconstruction
and asphalting is impossible, it would take huge money, and normally
when investing in road construction not only their strategic, but
also economic efficiency is considered."
However, a group of stubborn young Tavush residents wrote a letter to
the president of the country, demanding that a means for their safe
transportation be provided, and probably after that the government
upon the February 6 decision initiated the construction of a bypass.
The so-called bypass road has a length of only 3.2 km and is 6-7
meters wide, the project was formed by Tsannakhagits Institute LLC
with an estimated 612.8 million AMD (about $1,474,698) budget.
The Ministry of Transport and Communications said that they signed a
519.7-million-AMD-worth contract on February 27 with the Ijevan TShSh
CSC, according to which the company was supposed to finish the work
on June 30, 2014.
However, only probably in August the Ministry noticed that the
company violated the predefined deadline for finishing the work,
and on August 14 unilaterally cancelled the agreement. And later,
upon a new agreement signed on September 25 only, the fate of this
troubled road construction was entrusted in Khachhar LLC in return
for another million - 356 million 341.937 AMD, which was supposed to
open the asphalted road for use on October 30.
The Ministry says that the earth-related works in the bypass section
of the construction have been completed, also gravel installation
works all along the road are finished. Asphalting works have started,
and currently on a 1.5-km section of the road asphalting is completed,
however "abrupt change of weather conditions, heavy rainfall hinder
the total completion of the works in due time, because it is impossible
to do quality asphalting on a wet surface."
Winter and summer, fall and spring have passed, but the Ministry of
Transport and Communications have still not met the demands of the
residents of border communities living in already harsh conditions
under constant Azerbaijani fire.
Last Friday Armenian Minister of Transport and Communication Gagik
Beglaryan personally visited the bypass construction site to see the
works, and said that "they could have finished the work yet in May,
if they compromised on the quality of the road."
"We cannot make a builder ignore the weather conditions and do the
asphalting work, and then have a low-quality road the next year,"
Beglaryan said, adding that "because it is a strategic road, we ordered
that the road be passable, and one section will be a ground road."
http://armenianow.com/society/58743/armenia_road_tavush_villages_border
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Society | 25.11.14 | 11:48
GOHAR ABRAHAMYAN
ArmeniaNow reporter
Despite the sun, rain, wind and snow, after ten long months of
construction work the Armenian Ministry of Transport and Communication
managed to partially complete the three-kilometer-long road of high
strategic importance in the province of Tavush mainly connecting
border communities with the provincial center of Ijevan. However,
Tavush residents will probably not be able to use this road and this
winter again they will have to reach their hometowns along the roads
accompanied by enemy fire hoping for their luck, because paving works
of this alternative bypass were hindered by the recent unexpected
bad autumn weather conditions.
Enlarge Photo Enlarge Photo
Still last year, on October 22, 2013, 19-year-old conscript Garik
Petrosyan was killed by an Azeri bullet, while several others received
wounds of various severity, as Azeri soldiers opened gunfire on
passing vehicles in the Paravakar section of the Ijevan-Berd highway.
Immediately after the incident a decision was made to shut the road
to prevent further losses. However weeks later, despite Azeri fire
the road was reopened by the demand of the citizens, because 16
communities were in isolation.
This is the only paved road leading to these communities, many of
which are on the frontline, the other two roads - Chambarak-Berd and
Ijevan-Gandzasar-Berd - still inherited from the Soviet time are both,
to put it mildly, in near-unusable condition.
Still last November when the media - and ArmeniaNow first - raised
this question, Henrik Kochinyan, the head of the Armenian Roads
Directorate state non-profit organization at the Ministry of Transport
and Communications, said that "at the moment their reconstruction
and asphalting is impossible, it would take huge money, and normally
when investing in road construction not only their strategic, but
also economic efficiency is considered."
However, a group of stubborn young Tavush residents wrote a letter to
the president of the country, demanding that a means for their safe
transportation be provided, and probably after that the government
upon the February 6 decision initiated the construction of a bypass.
The so-called bypass road has a length of only 3.2 km and is 6-7
meters wide, the project was formed by Tsannakhagits Institute LLC
with an estimated 612.8 million AMD (about $1,474,698) budget.
The Ministry of Transport and Communications said that they signed a
519.7-million-AMD-worth contract on February 27 with the Ijevan TShSh
CSC, according to which the company was supposed to finish the work
on June 30, 2014.
However, only probably in August the Ministry noticed that the
company violated the predefined deadline for finishing the work,
and on August 14 unilaterally cancelled the agreement. And later,
upon a new agreement signed on September 25 only, the fate of this
troubled road construction was entrusted in Khachhar LLC in return
for another million - 356 million 341.937 AMD, which was supposed to
open the asphalted road for use on October 30.
The Ministry says that the earth-related works in the bypass section
of the construction have been completed, also gravel installation
works all along the road are finished. Asphalting works have started,
and currently on a 1.5-km section of the road asphalting is completed,
however "abrupt change of weather conditions, heavy rainfall hinder
the total completion of the works in due time, because it is impossible
to do quality asphalting on a wet surface."
Winter and summer, fall and spring have passed, but the Ministry of
Transport and Communications have still not met the demands of the
residents of border communities living in already harsh conditions
under constant Azerbaijani fire.
Last Friday Armenian Minister of Transport and Communication Gagik
Beglaryan personally visited the bypass construction site to see the
works, and said that "they could have finished the work yet in May,
if they compromised on the quality of the road."
"We cannot make a builder ignore the weather conditions and do the
asphalting work, and then have a low-quality road the next year,"
Beglaryan said, adding that "because it is a strategic road, we ordered
that the road be passable, and one section will be a ground road."
http://armenianow.com/society/58743/armenia_road_tavush_villages_border
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress