“As far as I remember, we haven’t seen a good mayor who could maintain the land. Everyone lives in Yerevan, everyone aspires to live in Yerevan, it is the most expensive land, and there are the most expensive apartments here. If there is such pressure, it will be very hard for the mayor to resist that pressure. Unfortunately, one needs political will to solve the most
difficult problems. What will the mayor do, if he is ordered from above? In this sense, we have never had a good mayor, because the ruling party destroys Yerevan at its order,” environmentalist Inga Zarafyan said during a conversation with www.aravot.am. She didn’t wish to say which of the candidates running for mayor will be the most useful for the city. “If the ruling party is so convinced that it will win the majority of votes and will continue its policy, I can say that this policy is just destroying Yerevan. Whoever it is, he will have to change this policy, this approach. The downtown is in a very bad condition. Our face, Yerevan, can collapse at any moment, because everyone knows that these buildings are not built in accordance with the rules…, no one lives in those large buildings, what will happen if people enter there? What will happen with that downtown? The communications will not withstand; moreover, what will happen, if God forbid that there should be a seismic vibration?” Ms. Zarafyan is not happy anymore, but disappointed, when she hears promises about landscaping the city. “That phrase is not pleasant for me any longer. They use the expression ‘green belt area’ like empty words. We don’t have a green belt area, but we talk about it. They cover something with grass and say that it is a green area. They erect a building on the grass and again call it a green area.” Ms. Zarafyan doesn’t believe both the promises and the slogans of the parties. “I don’t believe slogans at all. I believe my eyes.”
Arpine SIMONYAN
Photo by PanArmenian Photo
