Karen Karapetyan expressed dissatisfaction with order of construction work within framework of North- South project

ArmInfo. Prime Minister of Armenia  Karen Karapetyan expressed dissatisfaction with the order of  construction work on bridges within the framework of the North-South  project. "At 09.30 in the morning there are no workers on the  bridges, and at 17.30 there are all smoke breaks. On my questions  they answer, "We are keeping within the deadlines". If so work,  shorten the time No work is done there", he told during a government  meeting Martha.

According to the Prime Minister, there are numerous engineering works  on the same bridges that can be solved not on the ground, but outside  the construction zone. The prime minister urged all governors in  their fields to approach the issue very harshly - extremely harshly.  "I understand that this is a problem of the contractor organization,  but then it is necessary to formalize the contract in such a way so  that it was then possible to track it", Karapetyan said.

Already after the meeting of the government, Deputy Minister of  Transport, Communications and IT of Armenia Artur Araqelyan explained  that the construction work on the bridges is realized at the expense  saved in the framework of the North-South project, which allowed to  modernize these infrastructures.  "Proceeding from this, we were  forced to take the main work according to the clause of the  agreement, and only after that it was planned to build bridges", he  said.

As for the talks that work on the bridges was suspended in the  winter, this, as explained by the representative of the Ministry of  Transport, was related to the need to ensure the safety of citizens.  "The Ministry of Transport was forced to close or limit traffic at  certain places, and in order to minimize traffic restrictions, some  structures were manufactured not in the field, but in factories and  placed on the roads already ready", Araqelyan said.

Artur Araqelyan assured the journalists that the contracts were  concluded in accordance with the construction norms. "According to  the agreement with the construction company, it is planned to  complete the main construction works on these sites in May 2017, to  open the road, and the landscaping works will be carried out after  the opening of the road. But with the two bridges the contractor  organization promised to open until September 2017", he stated.

To recall, on October 20, 2016 Minister of Transport, Communications  and Information Infrastructures of Armenia Vahan Martirosyan told  journalists that the Government of Armenia represented by the  Ministry of Transport conducts an assessment of the efficiency of  construction of the North-South highway in the country. As the  minister said then, the study will evaluate the project's  productivity. Earlier, back in July of the same year. At a Government  meeting, former Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan said that the Spanish  construction company has become a real evil for the North-South  motorway. Abrahamyan noted that he heard rumors that the construction  of the highway was delayed because of the financial problems of the  Spanish company. He also stressed that the Ararat road is still "in  the problems and made poor". "There are some problems with this  company and I do not know with whom: They say there is no money, they  were simply taken away", he said.