EcoLur
The passions around Amulsar open pit mining and the construction of a heap leach facility have become tenser and tenses. The reason is the positive opinion issued to the project by “Environmental Expertise” SNCO of Nature Protection Ministry.
The mine is planned to be developed by Lydian International Company as represented by “Geoteam” CJSC. It’s a conditional positive opinion, as the environmental expertise tabled 6 conditions and the conclusion will be provided, if these conditions are fulfilled. We have studied these conditions and it’s clear for us, if these conditions are fulfilled, the project will be non-feasible,” said Inga Zarafyan, President of “EcoLur” Informational NGO at the press conference held at “EcoLur” Press Club on 2 December.
Gndevaz villager, journalist Tehmine Yenoqyan outlined, “The company has offered enormous prices to the villagers for their land areas. The villagers have divided into three groups: the first group is ready to sell their land areas and houses at any price and to leave the village, the second group is ready to sell their land areas only at high prices, while the third group drastically refuses to sell their land areas considering them to be their land areas and feeling committed to inherit them to their generations.”
“If the mine is developed here, the fruit will be polluted and we won’t have guarantees to export ecologically clean product. It caused rather large conflict of interests because of the positive opinion issued by the Nature Protection Ministry."
Tehmine Yenoqyan claimed, “Even if I remain as the only person in Gndevaz, I will sue. I am going to appeal this document both in the Court of Appeal and the ECHR. Barrister Hayk Alumyan will be engaged in the protection of my interests and the interests and rights of Gndevaz village.”
“We have a law, which bans any soil management in the habitats of red-listed species. It turned out that on 30 July 2014, two weeks before the public hearings, with the governmental resolution the Armenian Government made amendments to the law and set that such species can be transferred from soil management areas to botanical gardens and other areas. Nevertheless, the whole logic of environmental legislation assigns importance to the microclimate of the area and proper conditions for the growth of the species, and not to the species itself. ” Tehmine Yenoqyan thinks that Amulsar project is implemented under the highest protection and under political and financial pressures.
“For a few years the political pressures exercised by the US Ambassador John Heffern, UK Ambassador Catherine Leach and her husband are immediate and evident. Immediate pressures were exercised both on the ex nature protection minister and the Armenian Government. The World Bank and the EBRD had exercised financial pressures. You can remember how one of the EBRD senior officials directly accused the government of slowing down the project,” Arthur Grigoryan said and outlined that it’s a political problem leading to the resignation of the whole government. According to him, it’s a top-level corrupted transaction, for which both the international bodies and our government shall be brought to justice – court proceedings will start soon.
“Once again the Nature Protection Ministry proved it reached not an environmental, but a political decision. Amulsar mining eventually turned into a political decision, as 10-page-long opinion is the summary of 467-page-long EIA. This opinion doesn’t give any assessment, the three respectable experts having signed under this opinion haven’t seen any hazards,” Levon Galstyan said, a member of Pan-Armenian Environmental Front.
December 02, 2014 at 18:25