Mayor Tigran Avinyan expressed his anger today when his advisor Kamo Areyan spoke about the messy construction and delays in road works in Yerevan. “I want to see administrative terror.”
In particular, the ongoing work on the Paronyan-Proshyan section was the reason for the mayor's harsh response. The Water Committee is conducting work related to water supply through contracting companies in this area. In response to his advisor Kamo Areyan's report that the works are delayed and the volumes are insufficient, Avinyan stated that unscrupulous companies must be punished:
“There have been conversations with an ultimatum; I have asked our colleagues to keep an eye on your contractor, either punish them or remove the project from this situation. The same sloppiness is exhibited by the technical supervisor,” Areyan responded.
The spokesperson for the Water Committee, Aghunik Gevorgyan, stated that two different companies are carrying out construction work on Proshyan and Paronyan streets, and there is only a deadline violation on Proshyan street. On Paronyan street, the work is supposed to continue until November, while on Proshyan street, it was supposed to be completed by April, but the work has not been finished even in the extended deadlines due to numerous objective problems, one of which was the Armenia-EU bilateral summit held in Yerevan in May, which delayed the work. Nevertheless, that company has been fined.
“The construction work on Paronyan will be completed this November, while Proshyan, the problematic one, has had its deadline extended and delays exist; according to preliminary estimates, it should be completed in the first month of autumn - September,” Gevorgyan said.
While the city hall and the Water Committee are in a remote dispute, there are constant traffic jams on Proshyan and Paronyan streets... workers and machinery are working in different sections, and there are signs limiting traffic to 20 kilometers per hour in some places... however, cars cannot even reach high speeds if they wanted to.
Artashes Petrosyan, a taxi driver, states that the situation is bad not only here but also in other parts of the capital. A driver who travels many kilometers through the streets of Yerevan during the day notices that many streets start to be dug up shortly after being paved.
Meanwhile, Tigran Avinyan today spoke not only about road construction but also about the poor organization of construction sites, stating that changes have been made to the local self-government law, expanding the punitive powers of the city hall, so by the end of the year, there should no longer be unorganized construction sites.
Avinyan also instructed that administrative terror be implemented regarding construction sites.
Opposition council member Mesrop Manukyan stated that they have been raising these issues for two years, even alerting about violations happening right under the nose of the city hall, and it is unfortunate that only after two years Avinyan is talking about strict control over construction sites.
According to the council member, the new local self-government law is still not strict enough, and he expresses doubt that significant changes will occur by the end of the year after the mayor's speech.
