Arminfo
The members of the group 'We are the masters of our city" have summed up on the results of the passing year
The first scandalous event of 2010 was building of a cafe in the Students' Park. Despite numerous protest actions and the letters sent to the Yerevan mayor's office and the president, the problem was not resolved. As the head of Transparency International Sona Ayvazyan said at the press-conference, the collective lawsuit, supported by 116 people, was not investigated by Administrative Court with a wording that the given construction does not break any right.
The case was directed to the Cassational Court, but we still have no verdict.
Ayvazyan said that another lawsuit connected with the Students' Park has been also discussed in the court.
'We applied to the Elders' Council of Yerevan with a request to let us take part in their sitting, but they did not allow. An absurd situation has been established when Yerevan residents cannot take part in the sittings of the council elected by them. For his reason, we filed a lawsuit', - she said.
Another scandal of 2010 were the attempts to build an 18-storied building in the Dragons' alley where culture monuments were set. As green activists cleared out, they were going to start building without the relevant documents. Local residents started protecting the alley and managed to stop construction and to organize an action on tree planting at the place of the foundation pits.
Incidentally, nursery plants were given by Armenian Nature Protection Ministry.
A member of the Group Arthur Avtandilyan said local residents saved another city park, near Mashtots Ave, from liquidation. A supermarket and an underground parking were to be built there. Thanks to the public protests and Mass Media support, only the parking was left in the project. Nevertheless, the residents were discontented again. "By our data, the construction project has been revised again, but we have not seen the final version," he said.
It is not the only case when active opposition by the Yerevan citizens stops illegal construction. For instance, the residents of the Komitas Street 5 building succeeded in their fight. In the meanwhile, for the residents of the buildings in Sarkavag Street 72 and Nalbandian Street 104, who faced construction of a supermarket and a many-storey building in their yards, it is untimely speaking of victory.
Over the year illegal felling in Yerevan totaled 164 trees exclusive of the trees cut for construction of Nemo Dolphinarium. From now on all such facts will be strict due to the websites www.kanachaygi.org and www.kanach.am, where everyone can place data on liquidation of green areas.
December 28, 2010