HAAF holds opening ceremonies for Karmir Shuka water network and Mar

PRESS RELEASE
Hayastan All-Armenian Fund
Governmental Building 3, Yerevan, RA
Contact: Hasmik Grigoryan
Tel:? +(3741) 56 01 06? ext. 105
Fax: +(3741) 52 15 05
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:

Yerevan, May 24, 2013

Hayastan All-Armenian Fund holds opening ceremonies
for Karmir Shuka water network and Martuni hospital

Within the framework of the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund Board of Trustees
annual meeting, held in Yerevan, a delegation led by Executive Director Ara
Vardanyan and comprising benefactors, trustees, and representatives of
affiliates worldwide has begun a string of project-reporting visits in
Armenia and Artsakh.

The delegation, which includes close to 40 members, has also started to hold
opening ceremonies for recently completed projects.

Prior to traveling to Artsakh, the delegation visited the Goris Cardiology
Center, which was built with the co-sponsorship of the fund’s French
affiliate, the French-Armenian Doctors’ Association, the department of
Bouches-du-Rhone (a large administrative area in the south of France), and
former Lebanese prime minister Saad Hariri.

On May 23, the delegation officially unveiled two major infrastructure
projects in the Martuni Region: the potable-water network of Karmir Shuka
Village, and the Martuni Hospital. The construction of both projects was
sponsored by Armenia Fund USA, the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund’s Eastern US
affiliate.

Dignitaries and guests participating in the opening ceremonies included Rev.
Shahe Ananyan, representative of the Mother See of Holy Echmiadzin; Karen
Shahramanyan, Urban Planning minister of NKR; Khoren Bandazian and Irina
Lazaryan, chairman and executive director, respectively, of the fund’s
Eastern US affiliate; and local-community representatives. The festive
events were attended by large numbers of local residents.

“I thank you all for your devotion to your village,” said Ara Vardanyan in
his opening remarks during the Karmir Shuka opening ceremony, as he
addressed the residents. “I am hopeful that your bond with your village will
always remain strong, that the ranks of children standing here today will
increase, and that this land will prosper well into the future.”

The 270 households of Karmir Shuka, comprising 1,050 residents, now enjoy
around-the-clock access to potable water, which reaches them from area
springs thanks to the recently built distribution network. The network,
whose construction was co-sponsored by the government of NKR, includes an
11-kilometer pipeline and two regulation reservoirs.

The opening ceremony for the Martuni Hospital was equally jubilant. A highly
anticipated project since its start in 2011, the construction of the
hospital was co-sponsored by the government of Artsakh, the fund’s Eastern
US affiliate, and the Armenian Medical Fund.

In his opening remarks, Martuni mayor Mher Khachatryan spoke of the critical
importance of the state-of-the-art facility. With a total area of 2,470
square meters and fully equipped to provide a broad range of health
services, the Martuni Hospital is one of the largest establishments of its
kind to be built by the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund. The two-story complex
comprises a polyclinic, a maternity ward, an emergency room, an
intensive-care unit, and departments of gynecology, diagnostics, surgery,
and physical therapy. The hospital also features an advanced
infectious-diseases department, with its own entrance.

The hospital’s amenities include a large elevator, a boiler room, a power
substation, and central heating and air-conditioning. The facility can serve
close to 1,000 stationery and 1,400 ambulatory patients a year.

In his welcome speech at the opening ceremony, Khoren Bandazian said, “We
are extremely happy that ongoing collaboration between the diaspora and the
government of Artsakh has resulted in the establishment of yet another
modern medical center in the republic. The Martuni Hospital, whose
construction was made possible by the support of the Armenian Medical Fund,
our partner, will provide local communities with quality healthcare. It
remains to hope that this major initiative will be followed by many others,
toward the continued development of the strategically significant Martuni
Region.”

The Martuni Hospital is the second major medical facility in Artsakh to be
built through the support of the Armenian community of the Eastern US. The
first was the Stepanakert Polyclinic, a landmark complex which was built in
2006.

From: Baghdasarian

http://www.himnadram.org/