Armine Avagyan especially for EcoLur
“The fact of risk for residents of Shahumyan Region in Kapan where Deno Gold Mining Company is exploiting the mine has always been present. But in 2007 this fact was fixed up by the company, as a mine crater has formed in Shahumyan mine by that time. Specialists from “Georisk” PLC (Yerevan) were invited for investigations. They made both conclusions and suggestions. These documents are not at the company, we applied to them in writing, but we were rejected. We well demand them through court,” said Artur Ghazaryan, the Legal Consultant of “On Ensuring Ecological Security and Developing Democracy” NGO, during the interview with the own correspondent of “EcoLur”.
As a reminder: on 8 October the Court of First Instance in Syunik Marz will begin the examination of the claim brought by the aforementioned organization against Deno Gold Mining Company (former Kapan Ore Processig Combine). The claim includes demands to lift the threat to life, health and possessions in Shahumyan Region of Kapan that arose as a result of the company’s mining activities.
Artur Ghazaryan advised that 18 residents of Shahumyan Region applied to the organization to protect their interests, though in reality the region has 140 resident having property such as land areas or houses. They all support the claim brought by the organization.
The process on paying compensations to the residents of Shahumyan region started in that very 2007, and 8 families received their compensations. In 2008 the payment of compensations stopped. The defenders of the locals’ rights think that the claim should not be examined exceptionally as a financial demand: the residents of Shahumyan want to make their lives safe and secure. According to the program the company has, security zones must be established, while the residents must receive compensations step-by-step. The company also refused to present documents with evaluations and suggestions made by different organizations to public. “The company explained the termination of this program by crisis. But we don’t agree with these explanations,” Ghazaryan said. The walls in the houses in Shahumyan Region broke up because of explosions in the mine. Not correct exploitation brought to almost complete elimination of the upper layer of soil. “It is dangerous just to be above the mine, not speaking about living there or growing up children or working. Nevertheless, the people in Shahumyan keep on living, dealing with agriculture and cultivating gardens. Many have young children,” the lawyer is outraged “everybody knows that level of danger in this section is extremely high. Under expert’s opinion, one must not deal with livestock farming, or farming, or construct any buildings.”
It should be noted that under the information the organization has, the specialists invited by the company made a conclusion that the danger is a result of the combine’s activity and suggested to carry out preventative measures to reduce danger temporarily, for example, to carry out water drainage, to implement reinforcing work etc. But the company keeps this information secret.
September 30, 2009