By Armine Ghukasyan

Roudik Ghoukasyan, mayor of the Armenian town of Sevan, says that the problems facing his community, a major tourist resort given its proximity to the Lake Sevan, will become unsolvable if not tackled today.

He estimates that it will take 6 billion AMD (US$12.5 million) to tackle such problems as residential housing repair, construction of a rain water collection system, street lighting and renovation of educational centers.

Robert Rafayelyan, who serves as a mayoral adviser, says it will take 1.2 billion AMD just to make necessary repairs to Sevan’s residential housing stock.

The same holds true for a number of schools and cultural centers that haven’t been renovated since opening 40-60 years ago.

For example, the Walnut Kindergarten and a building housing a number of clubs are in a dilapidated state. The town’s music school is also in dire need of repair.

When it comes to affordable housing, many young families are still waiting for the day that Sevan gets included in an existing program that facilitates home buying at accessible prices and loans.

The last multi-apartment building constructed in Sevan was in 1990. Many new families have been forced to emigrate due to the housing shortage.

“There was a time when Sevan was an attractive town, one to be emulated. Sadly, that’s no longer true today,” says Mayor Ghoukasyan, adding that the list of what the town needs will get larger if serious money isn’t invested.

We can’t even talk about development projects. We have our hands full just solving vital basic problems on a short-term basis,” noted Ghoukasyan.

The past, present and future of Sevan is linked to tourism, and is one of the main approaches to regional development as well.

“Sevan has great potential when it comes to accommodating tourists. It’s located at the crossroads of a major interstate highway,” said the mayor and is calling for an international tender to draft a new urban plan for the town by 2030.

Mayoral adviser Rafayelyan believes that tourism and related service industries must eventually replace the much weakened manufacturing sector and that the town’s population will only grow when new job opportunities are created through such new initiatives.

He also believe that it’s vital to raise the quality level of services and accommodations catering to tourists that currently exists in Sevan while waiting for new capital inflows to arrive.

“We talk a lot because we don’t have money. But we need to attract those with money by our talking. We need to open a path for them. That path depends on one thing, a new master plan for Sevan that must be supported by the government,” says Ghoukasyan.

2^nd photo: Sevan Mayor Roudik Ghoukasyan

3^rd photo: Mayoral adviser Robert Rafayelyan