Tuesday, 14 December 2010
Government Council holds a meeting in Government
The MCA-Armenia Governing Council met in the Office of Government, presided at by GC chairman, Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan.
Before proceeding to the agenda, Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan advised that considerable efforts had been exerted since the latest sitting of the Council to ensure that the sums envisaged under the MCA-Armenia program were spent in full The US side was said to have been of great service by calling the government’s attention to the risks available under the program and suggesting risk minimization actions. Tigran Sargsyan noted that several consultations had been held with the Prime Minister and the Vice Prime Minister – Minister of Territorial Administration, after which monitoring was conducted on a weekly basis to provide for full compliance with the program goals: “Should there be any additional risks in the course of program implementation, the stakeholders will be called in immediately for further consultation with the Prime Minister to step up work and bring the program to completion. Our efforts seem to have been effective so far. In particular, all the risks pointed out by our US partners are kept under strict control. Efforts are underway to ensure that the developers comply with their contractual obligations,” the head of government stated in part.
First, the Governing Council approved the 18th application to the MCC with the attached documents. According to the application, the MCA-Armenia expects to get USD 21 488 218 for the quarter of January-March, 2011, of which USD 20 788 834 will be used to finance the Irrigated Agriculture project. The balance will cover monitoring and evaluation, project management and oversight costs.
Next, MCA-Armenia SNCO CEO Ara Hovsepyan reported back the status of the following activities: construction and rehabilitation of 17 pump-stations, 5 gravity systems, the Ararat Valley drainage system, several tertiary and 6 main canals, as well as training and lending activities and institutional strengthening of irrigation entities.
The meeting further discussed and approved the MCA-Armenia program’s 2010-2011 public event and awareness raising action plan. The Prime Minister suggested involving new experts with a view to extending the scope of awareness raising efforts.
