A group of taxi and public transport drivers yesterday held a demonstration at the Hayk square outside the Vanadzor municipality, protesting against the bad condition of roads in the town. In a video published by Lori TV, the drivers argue that the recently excavated areas in the town roads have yet to be patched. The hazardous roads, the protesters say, \u201care a plain disaster both for us and the passengers.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMayor [Mamikon Aslanyan] had promised to open a new page in the life of Vanadzor. Well, the page he opened has the same poet and the same rhythm. They should have patched the roads 20 days ago; what are they waiting for?\u201d one of the drivers argues.<\/p>\n
The protesters complain that they have been spending money on car repairs every day for the past weeks and insist that if the roads are not repaired, they will stop paying taxes.<\/p>\n
Karen Paravyan, head of the Vanadzor municipality department of communal services, came out to meet with the protesters and informed reporters that he had already contacted representatives of the \u201cLori Chanshin\u201d road-building company responsible for road-patching. The repair works, the official insisted, will be completed by August 31. Taking into consideration the drivers\u2019 discontent, he added, the company has promised to make sure that the holes on central routes are refilled in the coming days.<\/p>\n