“We are not aware of the roadmap in the Vayots Dzor section of the road, what map will they use, is it approved?”, member of “Tsarukyan” faction Sergey Bagratyan voiced a question regarding the construction of the North-South highway in the working discussion at the National Assembly Standing Committee on Economic Affairs. The question was addressed to the Minister of Transport, Communications and Information Technology Vahan Martirosyan. He was presenting the main issues of his department for 2018. The Minister said that there is no approved roadmap there yet, they should make revisions. It will be launched in 2018: “Serious engineering and construction projects need to be carried out in this area, more than 10 tunnels will be built in Sisian-Kajaran section, 2 of which will be quite long, and 17 bridges. This road is a high toll one, as other roads will be reduced, but there will also be an alternative road”.
The Minister says that only after the launch of this construction of this section they can think of the construction of the other road section in the southern part running from Kajaran to Meghri and from Ararat to Sisian.
The MP noted that the funding has increased by 60% and inquired: “Does this means that road construction works will be activated or are volumes not enough?”.
The Minister remained adamant: even though there are opportunities, but before the start of construction of Sisian -Kajaran given sector, it is inexpedient to start other works in the southern part. The MP expressed hope that the picture of the Ararat section of that road would be a lesson for future works: “There are already some decays. North-South is a century-long construction for us, and we should be careful and economical”, he said. The Minister did not deny what was said, adding that some warranty repair works were underway in some places.
Nelly GRIGORYAN
