EcoLur
Whether the illegal objects will be legalized in regard to the amendments and specification of the general plan of Yerevan. EcoLur addressed this question to Chief Architect of Yerevan Samvel Danielyan in the course of the discussions held on 13 April.
Public already had negative experience in making amendments in the general plan of Yerevan. Let’s remind you that in 2005-2006 a number of amendments were made in the new general plan and under this plan, illegal capital constructions in the forest zone of Norq and “Golden Palace” Hotel Complex built in the Park of Victory were introduced in the general plan and thus legalized. As a matter of fact, this lawfulness is illusory, as from the very beginning the construction of these objects were conducted in the violation of RA Law “On Environmental Impact Assessment”, as no documentation was submitted and the State Environmental State Inspection produced no opinion in this regard. Now we have the same situation with the Getar River enclosed in the concrete pipe, just as with the previous objects without submitting any documentation and opinions.
Under Samvel Danielyan, the general plan won’t discuss these issues. “An established procedure exists and in accordance with this procedure one or another object is subject to expert assessment. The abovementioned objects, especially the Getar underwent discussion during the zoning of community territories. We have received the reply sent by the State Environmental Inspection of the Ministry of Nature Protection of RA this section of the Getar River (we mean the section in concrete) is not subject to any expert assessment.
When EcoLur said the inspection is not entitled to give such an opinion, Danielyan answered: “There is certain procedure and in this case appropriate departments and organizations must give such replies in order not to assume inappropriate rights.”
EcoLur’s next question was as follows: if insignificant changes are said to be made in the general plan, what 100 ml AMD allocated from the state budget for the purpose of these amendments will be spent on, Danielyan answered:
“Small changes cannot determine the volume of the work. A very small issue may require serious investigation. For example, issues in regard to the transport. We have a problem with investigating the whole transport system and a number of other issues.”
April 16, 2010