Yerevan Municipality initiated revision of contract with water supply operator "Veolia Jur"
YEREVAN, June 9. /ARKA/. Yerevan Municipality sent a letter to the government and the Water Management Committee of Armenia with a proposal to review and regulate contractual relations with Veolia Jur CJSC (manages water supply systems of the capital and regions of Armenia) due to problems with sewerage, said Kamo Areyan, adviser to the capital's mayor.
According to him, one of the points of the letter concerns "adjustment of the scope of services provided." "There were omissions in the list of property leased to the company in 2016. Problems often arise with property that is not on the list and, therefore, is not included in the service area of "Veolia Jur". This also applies to new buildings and the pumping stations installed there," Areyan noted at a working meeting of the mayor's office on Monday.
He gave an example of a situation where, due to the fault of the developers, a pump "was not transferred to "Veolia Jur", the state", which became "a subject of headaches and disputes among residents", indicating that "the mayor's office is not to blame here.
According to the information provided by Areyan, 560 accidents were recorded on a number of streets in the capital last week, 400 of them in the sewer system.
"Not a single supplier (of utilities - ed.) has such indicators. Thus, 92 emergencies were registered with planned and emergency shutdowns in the sphere of activity of Electricity CJSC, 6 - with planned and emergency shutdowns in the gas sector of Gazprom-Armenia CJSC, and Veolia Djur - 560 accidents. These statistics are sometimes even higher, which indicates a destroyed sewer network," said Areyan.
The adviser added that the problem with the courtyards of apartment buildings, with basements that are flooded with wastewater, has worsened.
Mayor Tigran Avinyan, for his part, stated that information about problems with the sewer system is deliberately presented with distortions.
"This issue is not under the jurisdiction of the mayor's office. The problem concerns state property and, I assume, part of it was not transferred to Veolia Djur. It turns out that the city has infrastructure that is not our property, is not under our control, and is worn out to an unacceptable level,” Avinyan said.
Commenting on the information about 400 accidents in a week, Avinyan said that the mayor’s office “is solving problems that do not belong to it.”
“They constantly say that the mayor’s office is to blame for this, to blame for that. But let’s figure out who is responsible for this and determine who is responsible,” Avinyan said.
In recent months, heavy rains that regularly fall on Yerevan have led to flooding on the streets and in the subways, in tunnels and other transport hubs, clogging of storm drains and manholes. Last fall, city authorities acknowledged the imperfection of the drainage system, which is subject to serious reconstruction. This will require significant investments, and the mayor’s office was going to present the problem to the country's government.
About the water supply operator company
Veolia Djur CJSC is a subsidiary of the French Veolia Generale des Eaux, and is the sole operator of water supply and sanitation in Yerevan and a number of regions of Armenia. Since January 1, 2017, Veolia Djur has been managing the property of five companies: Yerevan-Djur, Armvodokanal, Shirak Vodokanal, Lori Vodokanal and Nor Akunk, under a concession agreement for a period of 15 years.
