OREANDA-NEWS. April 13, 2012. The President of Armenia visited Akhurian community of the marz and Mush-2 and Ani neighborhoods of Gyumri, familiarized with the accomplished and ongoing works conducted in the framework of the 2008-2012 program of providing housing to the families which lost shelter in the earthquake of 1988.

In Akhurian, Serzh Sargsyan toured the construction site of the apartment buildings and conversed with the residents of the community on the housing and other issues of their concern.

In Akhurian community, the construction of the residential compound comprising three apartment buildings was launched in May, 2011; nowadays, the reinforcement of concrete elements in underway.

In Gyumri, the President of Republic in Mush-2 and Ani neighborhoods visited some of the apartments of the newly constructed buildings, familiarized with the living conditions, observed the process and quality of the works.

The President was informed that housing construction in Gyumri conducted by the Glendale Hills company is approaching its final phase. Currently, the finishing works and outside building jobs are in the process. All buildings are four-storied monolith structures, constructed in line with the contemporary urban standards and have at least 9-point seismic stability. The total construction site encompasses almost 11 hectares: Mush-2 has 138 800 square meters of construction surface, while Ani is situated on 19 000 square meters.

The neighborhoods will be put into commission with their own infrastructure – water supply and sewage systems, gas and energy lines, street lighting and roads, while the apartments will be handed to the owners with bathroom equipment and finishing works fully done.

In the framework of the tour, the President was also briefed on the construction works of the school for 1080 schoolchildren in Gyumri’s Mush-2 neighborhood. According to the plan, the three-storied school will comprise four units. The construction works are to be finished in August, 2012.

The President of Armenia visited also the Medical Center of Gyumri where he made a tour of the premise.

The Medical Center is being constructed keeping in mind the necessity of providing the population of Gyumri with more affordable, efficient, high class and modern medical services through their further optimization. Toward that end, the 2006 RA Government decision envisaged the merger of the services provided by the Shirak regional medical center, Samariter and Gyulbenkian Surgical Hospital, creating in Gyumri a multifield hospital for adults.

The construction of the Center kicked off in September, 2010 and is scheduled to conclude in the end of May, 2012. The monolith structure of the new building has high aseismic stability, built in compliance with the highest international standards of hospital construction. After it becomes operational, Gyumri will have a modern multifield medical center which will have current furnishing, extensive diagnostic capabilities, surgical rooms, departments of emergency and intensive care, comfortable wards for one, two and three patients as well as facilities for conducting teleconferences with the leading clinics of Yerevan.

In the framework of his working visit to Gyumri, President Serzh Sargsyan visited also the Children’s Austrian Hospital situated nearby. He walked through the hospital, observed conditions and learned about existing problems.

Since today is a double holiday for the workers of the health care system – Maternity and Beauty Day celebrated on April 7 coincides with the World Health Day, at the meeting with staff of the Hospital and mothers of the children undergoing treatment here, the President conveyed his warm congratulations on the holiday and in their person to all women and mothers of Armenia, wishing them good health, happiness and endless love. Serzh Sargsyan noted that the great son of Gyumri, Hovhannes Shiraz in his “Monument to my Mother” book immortalized love for the parent. His example ought to inspire everyone to be worthy of his parents, wives and sisters, and while undertaking any major task be also considerate of their opinion.

“The holiday of Maternity and Beauty is an incessantly bright, charming and wonderful holiday for all of us, because it brings together maternity and beauty. It shows that in our opinion maternity is the beauty itself. I congratulate all our mothers, sisters and daughters on this holiday,” President Sargsyan said.

President Serzh Sargsyan highly praised activities of the Children’s Austrian Hospital which helps annually 16000 children to rehabilitate their health. Serzh Sargsyan assured that all problems raised during the tour will be solved shortly to make the Hospital fully furnished, employing high class specialists, operating on modern equipment. The Austrian Hospital of Gyumri is the only multifield health care facility in Shirak marz which was built with the assistance of the Austrian government after the devastating earthquake of 1988. It carries out outpatient as well as inpatient care for children and adolescents on every medical issue.

By the 2008 decision of the Government of Armenia, in the framework of the program for the optimization of the health care system in Shirak marz, the Children’s Austrian Hospital will be renamed into the Maternity and Child Care Austrian Medical Center which implies that the Hospital will be providing also obstetrics and gynecological services.

At the conclusion of his working visit to Shirak marz, at the administrative office of the marz President Serzh Sargsyan conduct a working meeting and assigned those responsible with the corresponding tasks.

The President tasked the Government and the Glendale Hills Company in addition to the construction of the apartment buildings already underway, based on the reports presented by the Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Territorial Administration and the Minister of Finance to start the construction of new apartments and houses in 15 more communities of Gyumri, Akhurian, Spitak and Vanadzor.

The President of Armenia underscored that the owners of the apartments after holding a draw should together with the developers participate in the finishing works for their homes. Serzh Sargsyan also directed that the mentioned above neighborhoods and the school are put into commission in August - totally beautified, with green areas, with outside building and finishing works, with all necessary infrastructures. By another assignment of the President, the Government will consider the option of building a road linking Mush-2 neighborhood to Boulevard quarter.