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CLEAN ARMENIA: GOVERNMENT-BACKED COUNTRYWIDE CAMPAIGN TACKLES TRASH
NAZIK ARMENAKYAN
ArmeniaNow
02.06.10
The new trashcans - required and provided by the municipality - can be
seen in front of offices, shops, cafes and restaurants in the center
of Yerevan.
Authorities have signaled the start of a new countrywide campaign aimed
at promoting cleaner environments in cities and towns across Armenia.
First events under the Clean Homeland program were staged in Yerevan
last weekend with the help of activists of a youth movement, Miasin
(Together). Officials promise Clean Homeland will be an ongoing
ampaign encompassing all locations in Armenia.
Littering is common in Yerevan and elsewhere in the country. Despite
calls from city authorities and environmentalists many residents still
continue to dump waste in undesignated places spoiling the sanitation
of the town and creating public health risks. Sparse green zones
and water basins, such as Hrazdan Gorge, are particularly vulnerable
to littering.
The first mention of the campaign was made on May 17 when at a
government meeting Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan said he had received
a letter from the Miasin public movement calling for a "clean Armenia."
Miasin, a pro-government youth group, was set up in February 2008 amid
the turbulent post-election times to show support for Serzh Sargsyan,
the current president and leader of the governing Republican Party
of Armenia (RPA).
Premier Sargsyan, who joined the RPA last November, last month urged
all state departments to take part in the campaign.
"The program starting in Yerevan will later spread to all provinces of
Armenia," the premier said, adding that the ecology minister would be
in charge of providing detailed information regarding the activities.
While the issue of littering has been raised at the government level,
authorities in Yerevan continued to stay busy throughout the spring
months, implementing various activities to spruce up the city - from
installing public and individual dustbins for businesses, to planting
and pruning trees, asphalting streets and painting lampposts.
A year after Yerevan's municipal elections won by the RPA, many
residents in the capital, especially its central part, acknowledge
the work being done by the Republican mayor.
"Well, slowly their work is becoming visible. There are even places
where they got yards asphalted as well. Of course, they sobered up
only after the city's green had been destroyed, but it is better late
than never," says Aram Arakelyan, a 65-year-old resident of Yerevan.
A total of 125 hectares of forest areas of common use will have been
created in the city this year under the Green Yerevan program announced
by Mayor Gagik Beglaryan. Of these areas, 100 hectares will be in the
city's southeastern Erebuni district, 15 hectares in northwestern
Ajapnyak and 10 hectares in southern Shengavit. For this purpose,
the municipality plans to have up to 14,000 meters of irrigation
networks installed in these three districts alone. Another 20,000
meters of irrigation water networks are expected to be installed in
other districts of the city under the 2010 programs. The networks
will take care of nearly 840 hectares of green areas.
Bus stops in Yerevan have been visibly revamped this year. According to
the Yerevan Municipality's Information and Public Relations Department,
the work on bus stops is implemented by a company called A.D.V. Media
S in accordance with a contract signed with the municipality's
Yerevantrans Company.
A.D.V. Media S Director Artur Karapetyan says the company has several
groups and while some of them monitor the situation on the bus stops
and clean them, others provide repairs whenever it is necessary.
Under a new program, 370 new bus stops will be added to the 298
already functioning in Yerevan.
Asphalting of streets began in Yerevan after the end of a long period
of spring rains. The mayor's office says nearly one million square
meters of roads and other territories in the capital will be asphalted
this year. About 60 percent of the project will target streets and
the rest yards near residential buildings.
A total of 12 organizations have contracts with the municipality to
implement refuse collection in Yerevan. In recent weeks new trashcans
have emerged in the city center. Those are provided to offices to
use to dump their waste, which will be regularly removed by the
refuse collection service. While these trashcans are provided for
free, offices are responsible for their condition and will have to
compensate their damage.
"Companies in charge of collecting garbage in different parts of the
city organize their work themselves and try to make it as effective as
they can," Mayor's Office utilities department head Gagik Khachatryan
explained to ArmeniaNow.
From: A. Papazian
NAZIK ARMENAKYAN
ArmeniaNow
02.06.10
The new trashcans - required and provided by the municipality - can be
seen in front of offices, shops, cafes and restaurants in the center
of Yerevan.
Authorities have signaled the start of a new countrywide campaign aimed
at promoting cleaner environments in cities and towns across Armenia.
First events under the Clean Homeland program were staged in Yerevan
last weekend with the help of activists of a youth movement, Miasin
(Together). Officials promise Clean Homeland will be an ongoing
ampaign encompassing all locations in Armenia.
Littering is common in Yerevan and elsewhere in the country. Despite
calls from city authorities and environmentalists many residents still
continue to dump waste in undesignated places spoiling the sanitation
of the town and creating public health risks. Sparse green zones
and water basins, such as Hrazdan Gorge, are particularly vulnerable
to littering.
The first mention of the campaign was made on May 17 when at a
government meeting Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan said he had received
a letter from the Miasin public movement calling for a "clean Armenia."
Miasin, a pro-government youth group, was set up in February 2008 amid
the turbulent post-election times to show support for Serzh Sargsyan,
the current president and leader of the governing Republican Party
of Armenia (RPA).
Premier Sargsyan, who joined the RPA last November, last month urged
all state departments to take part in the campaign.
"The program starting in Yerevan will later spread to all provinces of
Armenia," the premier said, adding that the ecology minister would be
in charge of providing detailed information regarding the activities.
While the issue of littering has been raised at the government level,
authorities in Yerevan continued to stay busy throughout the spring
months, implementing various activities to spruce up the city - from
installing public and individual dustbins for businesses, to planting
and pruning trees, asphalting streets and painting lampposts.
A year after Yerevan's municipal elections won by the RPA, many
residents in the capital, especially its central part, acknowledge
the work being done by the Republican mayor.
"Well, slowly their work is becoming visible. There are even places
where they got yards asphalted as well. Of course, they sobered up
only after the city's green had been destroyed, but it is better late
than never," says Aram Arakelyan, a 65-year-old resident of Yerevan.
A total of 125 hectares of forest areas of common use will have been
created in the city this year under the Green Yerevan program announced
by Mayor Gagik Beglaryan. Of these areas, 100 hectares will be in the
city's southeastern Erebuni district, 15 hectares in northwestern
Ajapnyak and 10 hectares in southern Shengavit. For this purpose,
the municipality plans to have up to 14,000 meters of irrigation
networks installed in these three districts alone. Another 20,000
meters of irrigation water networks are expected to be installed in
other districts of the city under the 2010 programs. The networks
will take care of nearly 840 hectares of green areas.
Bus stops in Yerevan have been visibly revamped this year. According to
the Yerevan Municipality's Information and Public Relations Department,
the work on bus stops is implemented by a company called A.D.V. Media
S in accordance with a contract signed with the municipality's
Yerevantrans Company.
A.D.V. Media S Director Artur Karapetyan says the company has several
groups and while some of them monitor the situation on the bus stops
and clean them, others provide repairs whenever it is necessary.
Under a new program, 370 new bus stops will be added to the 298
already functioning in Yerevan.
Asphalting of streets began in Yerevan after the end of a long period
of spring rains. The mayor's office says nearly one million square
meters of roads and other territories in the capital will be asphalted
this year. About 60 percent of the project will target streets and
the rest yards near residential buildings.
A total of 12 organizations have contracts with the municipality to
implement refuse collection in Yerevan. In recent weeks new trashcans
have emerged in the city center. Those are provided to offices to
use to dump their waste, which will be regularly removed by the
refuse collection service. While these trashcans are provided for
free, offices are responsible for their condition and will have to
compensate their damage.
"Companies in charge of collecting garbage in different parts of the
city organize their work themselves and try to make it as effective as
they can," Mayor's Office utilities department head Gagik Khachatryan
explained to ArmeniaNow.
From: A. Papazian