Government to monitor spending of funds directed at building housing
for homeless families in disaster zone

YEREVAN, November 7, /ARKA/. Armenian urban planning minister Vardan
Vardanian said today the government will conduct a monitoring of funds
directed for building housing for families that lost their homes in
the 1988 December 7 earthquake.

Speaking to journalists he said the monitoring will permit the
government to control utilization of funds released for improvement of
housing conditions of homeless families.

?Conduction of the monitoring will also allow us to create a unified
database about how the government is respecting its promises to
provide homeless families with housing,? he said.

The 2010 draft budget of Armenian government has earmarked 24 billion
Drams for rehabilitation of housing in the earthquake zone.

The 1988 December 7 earthquake razed to ground northern parts of
Armenia, destroying Spitak and Leninakan (now Gyumri) and over 100
villages, killing, according to official figures, 25,000 people,
injuring 140,000 and leaving over half a million people without homes.
M.M. -0-