A short while ago, a set of environmentalists marched from the park in the vicinity of the Mashtots Ave. to the Presidential Palace, to pass their written complaint, which was signed by around 600 citizens, against the Examination of the Influence on the Environmental bill passed on February 6 by the National Assembly to President of the Republic of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan.
Young environmentalists demand that the president doesn’t sign and returns, in their assessment, the dangerous bill. The action started from the mentioned park, since an active construction work has been going on here for the past few days. Environmentalists patrol the construction site day and night, in order not to allow constructors resume the construction. Yeghia Nersisyan has not left the area for 4 days already. He is compelled to eat, drink and sleep in the park in such a cold weather. In his words, the moment they leave, they resume the construction.
Artur Grigoryan, the lawyer of the Eco Dar NGO and a member of the Teghut group, pointed out the drawbacks of the bill, to which the legislature had turned a blind eye, “After passing this bill, if any businessman wishes to perform activities in green zones, there will be no public hearing, no examination or expertise made. They may cut down, destroy forests and cover the whole territory of the capital with boutiques without any serious public hearings or examinations. So, as opposed to the requirements of the Aarhus Committee, the bill doesn’t provide for the society’s real participation in the decision-making. The society is not offered an opportunity to appeal the decisions already made.”
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Lusine BUDAGHYAN
