Wednesday, 25 June 2008
Today the interdepartmental commission on provision of housing to homeless families from the earthquake zone met in a session at the Office of Government. The commission was established by RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan
's decision of June 23 with the purpose of developing and realizing housing programs for homeless families from earthquake zone. The commission is chaired by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia. The commission is composed of RA Vice-Prime Minister, Minister of Territorial Administration Armen Gevorgyan, the ministers of finance, urban development, economy, labor and social affairs, heads of the CBA, the State Committee on Immovable Property Cadastre by the Government, the governors of Shirak, Lori marzes and the mayor of Gyumri town.Under the same decision of Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan, the CBA head was told to come up before the deadline of September 1, 2008 with a proposal regarding the mechanisms of financing of housing development programs by means of mortgage loans in the settlements of the disaster zone. The minister of urban development was instructed together with the governors Shirak and Lori marzes to present for discussion of the interdepartmental commission of a proposal concerning the allocation of plots of land for housing construction in Gyumri and Spitak towns before September 1, 2008, as well as to submit to the interdepartmental commission information on the course of implementation of housing programs for homeless families in the earthquake zone on a quarterly basis.
Under today
's agenda, the commission has discussed 3 items: the mechanisms for realization of construction activities in Gyumri, the principles for allocation of plots of land in Gyumri and the status of construction sites in Stepanavan and Spitak.Commission chairman Tigran Sargsyan emphasized that the commission should be consistent in ensuring full compliance with the obligations assumed by the State as to the provision of housing to homeless families from the rtq zone.
Before proceeding to the discussion of agenda items, the Prime Minister suggested to hear the report on the status of previous disaster zone-related assignments issued to responsible persons. 3 mechanisms have been pointed concerning the conduct of construction activities in Gyumri.
1) Construction is carried out by private individuals with the State undertaking to cover the cost of construction by means of proportionate funding available to such individuals from the State budget on a yearly basis.
2) Construction is carried out through a mortgage fund. This mechanism is more cost-expensive than the first one. However, this mechanism has one positive aspect: it is susceptible to promote the development of the domestic mortgage market and the introduction of a new culture in the construction sector.
3) Purchase of available housing by means of certificates.
With reference to this question, on hearing the reports of the minister of urban development and the CBA head, Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan ordered the ministers of urban development, finance, territorial administration, labor and social affairs, together with the Central Bank, the governor Shirak marz and the mayor of Gyumri to develop within the framework of a task force until this August 1 a concept note on the conduct of construction tenders which would prescribe the procedure and the mechanisms for holding such tenders.
An order has been issued concerning the principles to abide by in allocating plots of land in Gyumri saying that, together with all stakeholders, the Republic
's chief architect and the architect of Gyumri should discuss and submit before the above deadline of September 1 their findings on to what extent the Gyumri town general plan of development will have to be amended following said allocation of plots of land.On to the next item as connected with the pace of construction in Stepanavan, it has been reported that by the year 2009 the issue of homeless families will be addressed in full and, in connection with the decision of the problem of 354 homeless families of Spitak, the minister of urban development and the governor of Lori marz were told to concretize before August 1 the question of allocating plots of land and report back to the commission.
The housing problem of the 1800 lonely old-age persons has been discussed by the commission, too. The need for providing them with separate buildings strong with uniform service facilities has been emphasized by commission members. It was noted that any person residing in such buildings should be given constant care on the part of State. The ministry of urban development was told to discuss with local authorities the details of the above-said special buildings construction.
