The building is being constructed right in front of the statue of soldier Gevorg Chaush, meaning that the statue will no longer appear behind the tall building. The contractor, however, hasn’t done anything for a long time now and the hole has turned into a huge swamp. The residents living nearby complain that their children have been in emergency situations due to that swamp.
“Last year, a kid almost died. He fell in the swamp and they somehow saved him. There have been similar cases. Whoever is constructing that elite building has to either finish construction or close that hole. Parents fear for their children’s lives,” say residents of Artashat and are amazed that they want to construct a building right in front of the statue of Gevorg Chaush. According to the residents, the contractor is a woman who comes to the site with her Jeep. The billboard near the site reads: “Complex apartment building in Artashat city. Client-“Prospering” INC, licenses 9735, 9745, project planner-“Aghekyan architectural studio” INC, Builder-“Astghik 5” INC, license 6671”.
I tried finding out from the deputy mayor of Artashat Levon Avetyan why it had been decided to construct the building in front of the statue and who the contractor was. According to L. Avetyan, the contracting company went to the municipality, got permission to construct a building in a 2400 square meter territory.
“I don’t think that the buildings are elite, but they have been provided for building apartment buildings. They came a year ago, a female, they started the job and even posted an announcement. They put up a billboard, showing how the building would look like. There was some unofficial information claiming that one square meter was going to be sold for 430-460 dollars, but they stopped working for some reason and left,” says L. Avetisyan, who assures that he doesn’t even know the name and last name of that female contractor. The deputy mayor only knows that she represents the “Prospering” INC. In any case, Avetisyan said that the Artashat municipality is now trying to get that territory back by court. If the territory is sold at an auction and construction begins and if nothing is done for three years, the municipality or the community can get the territory back. The deputy mayor says:
“We have some proofs, even the residents’ complains and letters so that we can get the territory back and use it for better purposes.”
He says that there is no swamp in the hole, just water. As for the statue of G. Chaush that is left behind the to-be constructed building, L. Avetisyan says.
“That statue had to be moved. There is a huge street in Artashat called Marx street, where there is a small square and the statue was supposed to go there. That has to be the street named after Chaush,” he said.
It’s interesting to know who that female contractor is because the residents of Artashat are sacrificing everything for her. It turns out that the Artashat municipality has granted a 2400 square meter territory to a girl, whose name the deputy mayor doesn’t even remember and is ready to transfer the G. Chaush statue to another street for the sake of that girl.