On July 10, 2024, "Save Ararat valley", "No Future in Dusty Village", "Be with Mountain", "Your Cement Is Money, Not Our Harvest"... this is how the residents of Ginevet settlement, Ararat Region, welcomed "ORD" LLC. The company came to the village to conduct the fourth public discussions on the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report of the mining activities of Karmirsar limestone marl (pumice stone) mine.
The site requested from Karmirsar mine is located within the boundaries of Ginevet settlement of Vedi consolidated community. The nearest settlements are Nor Ughi of Vedi consolidated community (about 2.8 km) and Aygezard (about 4.3 km) and Kaltsrashen (about 4.3 km) villages of Artashat consolidated community.
The residents of these affected villages and local civil society representatives are against the activities planned by "ORD" LLC. The majority of the opposition population could not enter the discussion hall due to the wall created by the police, thus not allowing them to exercise their right to express their position. The police, using force, did not allow the entry of specific citizens, including Arpine Khachatryan, who is the coordinator of the initiative group of affected Aygezard village. The residents of the affected villages were calling out against the operation of the mine in the courtyard of the building.
In her conversation with EcoLur, Arpine Khachatryan mentioned that they were informed about these hearings only a few days ago, they organized a signature collection of residents against the operation of the mine, which served as a basis for the policemen who recognized her not to allow her to enter the meeting hall. "Artashat Mayor was instructed by a letter from RA Environment Ministry to inform the residents of Aygezard and Qaghtsrashen villages about participating in the hearings and stating their position.
According to Arpine Khachatryan, several residents from Ginevet, mass media and several civil society representatives participated in the hearing. The rest were the employees of Vedi municipality.
Arpine Khachatryan raised the risks that threaten the villages in the case of mine operation. "We will have two cement factories in this small region, and they are in the vicinity of the agricultural zone, which is incompatible with agriculture. Our task is not to touch the mountain. Our mountain protects our gardens from the wind. If they start to demolish, the winds will bring all the dust to our village, hundreds of hectares will become desert," she outlined.
According to the EIA filed by "ORD" LLC, the area of the open pit in the requested area makes up 62.13 ha, the area of the landfill in the lower part is 2 ha, the production area is 200 square meters, the area of disturbed land is 64.15 ha. It is planned to extract 1 million 971 thousand 274 cubic meters of limestone per year. The service life of the mine is planned to be 20 years.
The amount of economic damage caused to land resources as a result of the activity is estimated at 305,258.8 thousand AMD and the possible economic damage to the environment is calculated at 326,393.2 thousand AMD.
"ORD" LLC was registered in 2021 in Yerevan. The real beneficiary of the company is Tigran Ordukhanyan with 100 percent share.
July 11, 2024 at 18:30