ENP Newswire
June 8, 2009 Monday
Armenia Fast-Track Projects Work and Bring Results
A package of three projects for Armenia was approved under the
Fast-Track Facility in late February as an immediate response to the
global economic and financial crisis: US$ 25 million for a Lifeline
Road Improvement Project (LRIP), US$ 8 million and US$ 2 million for
additional financing for the Social Investment Fund III (ASIF III) and
Rural Enterprise and Small-scale Commercial Agriculture Development
(RESCAD) Projects.
The Bank and the Government managed to design, negotiate, and complete
all the loan arrangements within seven weeks of receiving the
request. The Government then prepared and bid 25 different contracts
in a record time of three months. Implementation is now underway, and
results are already being seen on the ground, providing much-needed
jobs during this time of crisis . . .
‘I heard about the project not long ago, and am very glad that I was
immediately hired to do work on the project,’ said Artem Hakobyan,
from the village of Meghrashat. ‘I am not only building the road that
will link our village to the town, but I am also able to stay employed
for the coming months, and sustain my family.’
Akhuryan is a community of villages, including Meghrashat, outside of
the city of Gyumri in the Shirak region of Armenia. Despite being in
close proximity to the main highway and to Gyumri, the second largest
city in the country, Akhuryan’s villages are almost isolated – roads
connecting them to the city and the main highway had been left in
desperately poor condition since the devastating earthquake of
1988. As a result, the villagers are often forced to live a
self-sustained life, having minimum contact with the city or other
parts of the country. The produce they sometimes risk to take to the
city market to earn a day’s living would spoil on the barely drivable
roads, where seven km per hour was the maximum travel speed.
With the Lifeline Road project already under implementation, by
November this year Akhuryan’s villagers will be connected to the city
and the main highway, via safe, speedy, modern roads. In addition, the
community members have been actively involved in the works – over 400
people are currently employed as community workers on the roads in
Akhuryan.
Like Artem, Spartak Lazarian from the Village of Haykavan, was
unemployed before the launch of the project – agricultural produce was
the only source of sustaining his family. ‘Renewed roads will allow us
to take our produce to the market quickly and in a better state,’ said
Spartak. ‘Besides, young people will be more inclined to go to the
city for their education, and even seek employment.’
Works under the Lifeline Road project have started in all of the
planned seven regions of Armenia, and the number of people employed in
community works is growing day-by-day. An estimated 7,650 people per
month will be involved in the community works. By November, a network
of over 100 km of roadways will connect 39 rural communities and some
71,000 people to main highways and towns.
The additional financing for RESCAD will add seven rural communities
to the original 134, to scale up the Community-focused Economic
Development (CED) component. Of these seven communities, two will
benefit from gasification, and five from water supply system
improvements. Works on the ground in all these seven communities will
already start next week.
Moreover, the additional financing has made it possible to cover the
gap created by the exchange rate fluctuations. Otherwise, 35 out of
the overall 134 communities would have been left out of
implementation. As a result, works are already underway in all 35
communities. By the end of the year, all of them will have their
priority infrastructure – drinking water, gasification, irrigation,
and sewerage – built or their income generating projects –
agricultural machinery, rural bus service, milk collection coolers,
flour mills – completed.
Vahagnadsor is a small isolated village community of 365 people in the
Lori region of Armenia. A community settled around a former rail
station, Vahagnadsor lacks agricultural lands, and has no means of
income. The village school building for 64 students dates back to
1930, and is virtually in ruins. Works have already started under the
additional financing for ASIF III, to rehabilitate the building with
the direct involvement of villagers, giving them jobs for the
medium-term, as well as the satisfaction of building the school for
their own children.
Owing to the additional resources, it is now possible to add 32
micro-projects in 24 communities, for social and economic
infrastructure rehabilitation ranging from renovation of schools with
heating, specialized schools, sports facilities, community centers,
and potable water in homes, to the rehabilitation of irrigation
systems. Work has started in 16 communities, the other 16 soon to
complete the tenders – already generating 68,000 job days of the
86,000 overall job days planned.
[Editorial queries for this story should be sent to
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From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
