QUAKE ANNIVERSARY: 23 YEARS ON, POLICIES ON ‘DISASTER ZONE’ STILL PART OF ARMENIA’S ELECTION DISCOURSE
By Gohar Abrahamyan
ArmeniaNow
07.12.11 | 12:08
Twenty-three years after the devastating earthquake in Spitak,
the consequences of its blow continue to remain a major problem for
Armenia. Typically, concerns over the ‘Disaster Zone’ become part of
any major political discourse and speculation in the country ahead
of national elections.
An earthquake measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale hit northern parts
of Armenia on December 7, 1988, killing at least 25,000 people and
leaving hundreds of thousands without shelter, many of them physically
crippled and psychologically depressed. The earthquake affected a
total of 40 percent of the republic’s territory of approximately
30,000 square kilometers.
Enlarge Photo
Despite promises by Armenia’s successive governments to eliminate
the consequences of the quake and stamp out the very notion of the
‘Disaster Zone’, many residents in Gyumri, Spitak and dozens of towns
and villages in the area continue to feel the impact of the tragedy
even today.
The Disaster Zone would regularly become a matter of debate and
speculation during all national elections held in independent Armenia.
It is unlikely to escape politicians’ attention also ahead of
parliamentary elections due next May. Some local NGOs estimate
in Gyumri alone there are 6,000-6,500 families living in makeshift
housing (and 600 such families in other communities). According to
official numbers provided from the Shirak province’s administration,
about 4,250 families were without permanent housing in Gyumri as of
2008. More than 1,000 of those families, according to official data,
have received permanent homes since then. The official number of
families without permanent shelter in other communities as of 2008
was 466.
Still, civil society representatives say a lot of families that
officially are not earthquake survivors also live in makeshift houses.
If their estimations are correct, then now about 25,000 of Gyumri’s
140,000-strong community (about 20 percent of the town’s population)
need permanent housing and 15,000 of them are eligible voters.
Still during his presidential election campaign in 1998 Robert
Kocharyan promised to do away with the Disaster Zone notion by 2002,
replacing it with the concept of Development Zone. Armenia’s current
President Serzh Sargsyan also addressed the concerns in his election
pledges in 2008, promising to solve the problems of people in makeshift
housing by 2013.
At a meeting of the government in September this year Prime Minister
Tigran Sargsyan, who is also a member of the Serzh Sargsyan-led ruling
Republican Party of Armenia, stated that the government was well on
track to meet the target and that the work on the elimination of the
consequences of the earthquake was entering its final stages. He,
in particular, said that “we are fully meeting our commitments to
people without homes, in particular to families that meet criteria
defined by us.”
Still, Shirak Center NGO head Vahan Tumasyan thinks that the problem
of people without permanent housing remains acute.
“They’ve cleaned the center of Gyumri from makeshift housing,
they’ve spruced it up and at first glance the city is in a very good
condition. But walk 10-15 meters inside and you’ll see what difficult
situation there is in reality,” says Tumasyan, adding that as many
as 1,756 had been expected to be provided with housing by the end of
the year, but the project was for some reason delayed.
Gyumri-based Asparez journalists’ club president Levon Barseghyan
says that problems of the earthquake zone have not been adequately
perceived by either the former or current authorities. He says
without proper understanding politicians only make huge promises
before every election.
“In Gyumri, in fact, one in five people have no permanent residence
and these people have little hope for their future. I don’t think that
authorities have ever fully comprehended the depth of the problems.
Their solutions have not been long-term, but rather superficial,”
says the award-winning journalist and prominent civil rights champion.
Concerns in Gyumri have also centered around the quality of
construction that is said to the result of lack of competition among
construction companies as only one company has been awarded most
government contracts for building.
ôhe Gyumri-Asparez daily reported that a ceiling plaster in one newly
constructed apartment had come off, falling on a sleeping child. Media
reported other similar cases in the past as well.
Constructors have routinely dismissed the claims that they fell
short of standards. In some cases company specialists would refer
to violation of maintenance conditions by residents, such as heating
standards during winter periods.
“For years money has been allocated from the state for the work in
the disaster zone, however from year to year we hear more and more
complaints. Instead of causing people to feel thankful, it only adds
to the insult,” says Anahit Bakhshyan, a member of the opposition
Heritage party’s faction in parliament.
Armenia is in one of the three seismically most active parts of the
globe, which means Armenia needs to be ready for earthquakes and
eliminating potential damage.
Memories of the 1988 earthquake freshened in the minds of many in
Armenia earlier this year when on October 23 a powerful earthquake
hit eastern parts of modern-day Turkey. Tremors measuring 3-5 were
also felt in parts of Armenia causing many to leave their homes and
spend hours in the open air.
The earthquake in Turkey whose aftershocks have continued for
a durable period of time has renewed the debate in Armenia about
earthquake-resistant construction. Specialists say much still needs
to be done to raise construction standards in Armenia to avoid a
potentially huge loss of life in possible earthquakes.