The Yerevan Municipality’s Department of Urban Construction and Land Monitoring said today that staffers had overseen the dismantling of portions of building columns at the Pak Shouka that were in violation of the building permit granted the developer.

The on again off again construction at the historic covered market in downtown Yerevan has been under intense public scrutiny since the site was sold to MP Samvel Aleksanyan.

The municipality says that the columns were dismantled to prevent the construction of a multi-storied structure.

Over the past few weeks there have contradictory statements from government officials as to what is being built on the site and which agency is ultimately responsible for monitoring the construction.

Readers wanting to know more can see: “Minister of Culture Poghosyan: Passing the Buck on the “Pak Shouka”