Torgom Sahakyan, mayor of Syunik Marz Keti village, says that the local municipal council really doesn’t do much.

Sahakyan says the reason might be because he is so active, bringing a number of issues to the table for discussion on his own initiative.

He’s been the mayor since 2005. Sahakyan pointed to a recent public transportation issue as proof of his active involvement in local concerns.

The transportation company serving the Gyumri-Keti route won the tender with a fare of 150 AMD. The old fare was 120.

However, since many students use the route to get to colleges and institutes in Gyumri, the mayor went to the company requesting that the fare be lowered. The company agreed and kept the fare at 100 AMD for a long time.

He says that the new 150 AMD fare has annoyed many residents but that the council hasn’t taken any action.

“Residents don’t take their problems to the council. They come to me so naturally I have to act. I would like to see the council members take the initiative a bit more,” Sahakyan says.

The Yerevan-Gyumri-Tbilisi highway divides Keti, 10 kilometres from Gyumri, into two. It’s a settlement with a long history and the cultural monuments to prove it. The current village dates back to 1829.

Every year, 100-150 men leave the village for seasonal work abroad. There’s a high school in Keti but the kindergarten has closed its doors; there aren’t enough toddlers.

The village still isn’t supplied with natural gas. In 1998, the main pipeline was installed leading right up to village border. More than ten years later and for a number of moot reasons, no distribution system has been built.

The national government included the gasification of the village in its 2010 “Shirak Regional Development Program”. The community will kick in 10% of the cost with the IFAD covering the rest. Work is scheduled for completion in 2012.

Municipal Secretary Arshalouys Grigoryan says that a major problem facing the community is irrigation.

The Millennium Challenge Grant was supposed to assist in the construction and renovation of an irrigation system but due to the cuts in financing to Armenia, the project never got off the ground.

Grigoryan says that the World Bank has entered the breach with a new set of irrigation projects with the proviso that local communities invest 15%.

“We’re talking about a 30-40 million AMD project for the entire area. It’s a huge sum for us to pay,” laments Grigoryan.

He points to a number of projects that the community has launched on its own and not a part of the regional development program - streets have been repaved, trees planted and water pipes transferred underground. The village also plans to erect 26 street lights by the end of this year.

The village takes in 3.5 million AMD in annual revenues and receives 12.9 million in state subsidies.

Mayor Sahakyan says the village cannot undertake large-scale projects with such a small budget.

“All the big projects, those requiring additional financing, have been pushed back till 2012. We draft the projects, but for now they remain on paper,” he says.

The village plans to wall off the cemetery at a projected cost of around 8 million AMD. Whether it can do so merely with local revenues remains an unanswered question.

Mayor Sahakyan says that they also want to construct a town square and have taken the matter up with the Social Investment Fund. They have received promises that the work might commence in 2012.

There are 22 homeless families in Keti, but only 14 have their papers in order.

The mayor says that according to the Regional Urban Development Department, the eight families living in buildings registered as unsafe can wait since it’s not an emergency.

“These are families living in 3rd and 4th category unsafe buildings. They might not be 1st category but the problem is still urgent,” he says.

Mayor Sahakyan proudly notes the recent renovation of the school’s gymnasium with 17 million in assistance from the Shen benevolent organization.

“We invested 870,000 AMD of our own money. The kids needed a decent gym,” the mayor says.