EcoLur
Around 120 residents of Nati neighbourhood in Yeghvard Town,Kotayq Region, have addressed a letter to Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan and RA State Control Service Head Davit Sanasaryan, which particularly says, “The official representative of “Lubrex” brand in Armenia “ArmOil” Company is currently constructing an oil-processing plant in Nati neighbourhood, Yeghvard Town, without any environmental expertise. Oil-processing production is subject to environmental impact expert assessment and, under RA Law “On Environmental Impact Assessment and Expertise” is classified under most risky projects – Category A.
Since last year we have informed about this problem to RA Nature Protection Ministry, RA Ministry of Emergency States, Prosecutor’s Office, “Environmental Impact Expert Assessment Center” SNCO, Human Rights Defender’s Office and State Inspection of Urban Development. The plant construction permit hasn’t been issued either by RA Ministry of Emergency States or, moreover, RA Nature Protection Ministry.
The to-be-built plant is literally in a distance of 20 meters from our neighbourhood and no basic standard of urban development has been followed. We informed about it to RA Ministry of Emergency States, which wrote us they are not aware of the construction of a plant in Nati neighbourhood, which bears risks of explosions. Four months have passed after the letter addressed to the Ministry, but we haven’t received any response and don’t know whether fire safety and other standards are kept in the plant and whether or not the operation of this plant threatens our lives.
This issue is a pressing one for us, as our neighbourhood located ecofood productions, “Ani” Dairy Products Plant, a plant producing walnut oil with its walnut orchards, another plant producing dried fruit and brandy and coffee plants, an animal forage plant. The estimates show that around 600 working places are at risk and sustainable business projects can be annulled.
Dear Mr. Prime Minister
We are demanding guarantees that we, our orchards and our animals, surrounding environment won’t be damaged because of the operation of this illegal building.
Only after one year a criminal case has been initiated based on Article 314 (1) of RA Criminal Code (official forgery) due to the revolution, and the preliminary investigation has been assigned to RA Investigative Committee.
It should be mentioned the ground of the criminal case was the fact that Yeghvard officials inserted obviously false information in the urban development documents kept in the community administrative body and to veil the need to carry out complex expert assessment of environmental impact set by legal acts to issue a soil development permit to “ArmOil” Company.”
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June 19, 2018 at 15:42