Housebuilding in Earthquake-Hit Regions Was Not Seriously Dealt With: Vardan Vardanyan

Armenia's Minister of Urban Development Vardan Vardanyan made a surprising confession when he said the ministry had not been serious about the quality of construction in the regions of Armenia hit by the 1988 earthquake.

"We should have taken up that issue more seriously from the very beginning as we do now; in that case there would be no such shortcoming," Vardanyan told a press conference as he answered Tert.am's question.

His comments come months after Armenia's President Serzh Sargsyan found during a visit to marzes (province) of Lori and Shirak some shortcomings in the construction quality and instructed the Glendale Hills, the company in charge, to eliminate them before the flats would be exploited.

Vardanyan at the same time assured that both the Ministry and the company in charge reviewed their work and eliminated all the shortcomings the President had mentioned. All those responsible for construction quality and who have underdone their work, according to him, have been laid off.