3 projects for three years, with 269 LED lamps and 8.5 km long illuminated area: this is the summary of works implemented at Berdavan borderland village, under the street lighting program for 2016-2018, within the partnership between VivaCell-MTS and the Foundation for the Preservation of Wildlife and Cultural Assets (FPWC). The partnership continued also this year. The 4th street lighting project was implemented. In 2019, with the joint efforts of partner organizations and the Noyemberyan municipality, the number of energy-saving street-lighting LED lamps has increased by another 56, illuminating five more streets, totaling to two kilometers. Owing to the implemented projects, a total of 10,5 km of road sections have already been illuminated in Berdavan. Through years of efforts, the main streets of the community, the frontier of the village, the streets leading to the kindergarten, schools and other community’s important buildings have been illuminated.

 

VivaCell-MTS General Manager Ralph Yirikian, FPWC Founder Ruben Khachatryan, Noyemberyan Community Head Karen Abazyan, Berdavan administrative director Smbat Mughdusyan, and the community residents participated in the lighting system launching ceremony.

 

“Problems are like a swamp; the more you ignore them the more efforts they require later to solve them. If we dream of a good environment and a prosperous country, we have to strive to develop a deeper understanding of rural communities and to pay more attention to them. As opposed to cities, where problems are more exposed, the villages, particularly, those on the borderland, need more financial and psychological support. We have been in Berdavan before. We have always tried to solve the problems here by implementing continuous projects. Today we are back to celebrate the results of yet another project. I am happy to say that walking in the streets gets safer now,” VivaCell-MTS General Manager Ralph Yirikian said.

 

Berdavan is one of the rare border villages in Armenia, where streets lights are on all night long. The environment friendly LED lamps also provide a stable and clean environment. The efficiency and importance of the implemented system is appreciated at the village. Community’s financial burden is alleviated. LED lamps are more efficient and durable, serve incomparably longer and consume 80% less electricity. Due to solving the lighting problem, walking around the village became safer even in the late hours of the day, which is a very important issue in the border villages.

 

The partners targeted the development of the infrastructure in borderland villages, within the framework of the “Eco Villages Network” project; this effective partnership is in progress in Berdavan village, Tavush region since 2015. In addition to realizing a street lighting system, other projects have also been implemented here: the kindergarten and music school in the village are provided solar heating systems.

 

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