About 6,000 families in Lori and Shirak provinces still need housing

Interview with Aram Kocharian, provincial governor of Lori

by Tatul Hakobyan

Published: Saturday November 29, 2008

Aram Kocharian. Armenian Reporter.

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Vanadzor, Lori Province, Armenia - Aram Kocharian, governor of the Lori province, sat down with the Armenian Reporter's Tatul Hakobyan to discuss the losses incurred in his region after the 1988 earthquake and how authorities continue to deal with the situation.

Armenian Reporter: Mr. Kocharian, 20 years have passed since the earthquake. Is there an exact calculation of the damage caused in Lori province by the earthquake?

Aram Kocharian: The earthquake affected the entire territory of present-day Lori province. The rural and village communities of the province suffered, apartment building blocks were severely damaged, industrial and infrastructure establishments and the 24 villages of the province almost entirely turned into ruins. The human loss was great. More than 15 thousand apartments, more than 7,000 private houses, 102 schools, and 18 hospitals were damaged as a result of the earthquake. About 4,003 people died in the city of Spitak, which had a population of about 20,000. It is said that as a result of the earthquake one-third of Armenia became a disaster zone. About 700 thousand people lost their apartments or felt the after effects of that disaster. Twenty years have passed from the earthquake and even today we feel its after effects. According to statistical data, many of those born after the earthquake, who are now being drafted into military service, are unhealthy; they have diseases and are not fit to serve. The greatest losses were those of human lives and issues connected with the genetic structure, which have become evident today.

AR: How many people who suffered from the earthquake lack housing in Lori province today?

AK: During his last visit to Shirakamut, President Serge Sargsian said that about 6,000 families need housing in the entire disaster zone. The president made a very brave announcement by saying that by the end of 2013 all these families will have housing. I believe that the issue of homeless people will be solved sooner. Beginning in 2009, 354 buildings will be constructed in Spitak. We are going to allocate apartment purchase certificates to those families that lost their homes in Vanadzor. We are going to finish works on four semi-constructed multi-apartment buildings in Stepanavan; this will solve the problem for 55 families. Today about 1,800 families need houses in the villages of Lori province. Houses should also be constructed for them.

AR: President Robert Kocharian noted numerous times that the disaster zone is now a development zone. Today, however, 20 years after the earthquake 6,000 families, some from Lori province, still need housing.

AK: Yes, During Robert Kocharian's presidency we said that we had had enough talk about restoring apartments and should be talking about the development of the infrastructures in the provinces of Shirak and Lori, and work on the development of the economy: new jobs, organizing new production and, in general, increasing the attention of the state.

To say that Lori is a development zone in the classic meaning of the word is not correct, but the attitude of the state toward the disaster zone has clearly changed. The attitude was different up to 2003 and has changed completely since 2003.