“Road building projects will have to undergo considerable qualitative changes” – PM refers to road construction issues

Chaired by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, a consultation was held in the Office of Government to discuss the ongoing and prospective road construction programs.

The Prime Minister noted that the State is responsible for the quality and smooth operations of infrastructures. “Unfortunately, the quality of infrastructures still falls short of perfection, but we also understand that we need to make the most efficient efforts to get things right in this field. It is crucial for us to have considerable qualitative changes implemented in road construction. I mean the roads’ quality control and technical oversight to ensure that funds are spent efficiently and roads serve as long as prescribed in their technical regulations.”

Minister of Transport, Communication and Information Technologies Ashot Hakobyan reported progress in the implementation of State budget-financed interstate, national and local road building projects. The Minister advised that originally it was planned to build 66 km-long roads and road sections nationwide to a total cost of AMD 6.4 billion in 2018, but owing to fund savings, 77 km-long roads will be built by this yearend, and all of the planned projects will be implemented in full.

The Minister next reported that the reconstruction of Jujevan-Noyemberyan road section in Tavush Marz has already started and will be complete by the end of the year. According to Mr. Hakobyan, the projected savings will make it possible to carry out additional capital repairs by this yearend, as well as to develop next year’s construction projects.

Reference was also made to the ongoing rehabilitation of intercommunity roads under the Additional Financing Facility of the World Bank’s Lifeline Road Improvement Project.

Highlighting the importance of making additional savings in order to address more road sections than it was planned for 2018, the Premier told the heads of the agencies concerned to once again explore the possibility of expanding the scope of activities and provide extra resources for the implementation of the ongoing road building projects.

Issues related to road network’s maintenance, servicing mechanisms, definition of strict quality and technical standards, improvement of tenders’ terms and conditions and the procurement process were discussed during the meeting.

In the context of increased control efficiency, Prime Minister Pashinyan prioritized the need for developing stricter quality standards and technical specifications and instructed those responsible to jointly discuss and submit common solutions.