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As of 2014, 5381 beneficiaries were registered under the state sponsored housing program in the disaster zone after the 1988 earthquake, 4175 of them improved their housing problems, yet 550 families remain homeless, head of the Housing policy and Communal infrastructure department at the State Committee of Urban Development Tanya Arzumanyan told a press conference on Tuesday.

In her words, most of the 4175 families reside in Gyumri, whereas in 2018 the state program will completely address the housing problems of the remaining 550 families.

When asked about the constant complaints about the program, Arzumanyan said: “I guess the main problem is related with the family size and internal domestic disputes within families unable to share the living space”.  

Tanya Arzumanyan next informed that after the completion of the apartments, the state program will address also the homeless who lost their private houses that is currently not covered by the program.

Arzumanyan also referred to numerous cases when citizens were provided with apartment lost during the earthquake and afterwards sold those being back to wagons. The other reason for large number of families settled in temporary shelters, per her, is the internal migration from the nearby settlements.

“We do not possess exact numbers, but various estimates suggest the number of such families in Gyumri is 4,000 and 5,000 in Vanadzor. The Committee will undertake registering those cases,” the head of the department told, adding since its launch in 2008, the state sponsored housing program has provided 60 thousand homeless families with apartments.