Tweet
TIGRAN KHZMALYAN: KAJARAN EMINENT DOMAIN ARCHITECTS ARE "BLOODSUCKERS"
Mаry Mamyan
HETQ
December 20, 2011
At a press conference today regarding developments in the Syunik
village of Kajarants, Sardarapat Movement member Tigran Khzmalyan
declared that "the main function of the ruling regime is plunder."
Khzmalyan charged those in power with emptying the pockets of the
people for the past twenty years and that the wealth of the nation
has been concentrated in the hands of the few.
He charged the government is now bent of selling what little remains
because it knows that its days are numbered.
Regarding the situation in Kajarants, where village lands have been
designated "eminent domain" and whose residents are soon scheduled
to be resettled, Khzmalyan argued that the mines the government wants
to open do little to improve the lot of the people.
He said that it's not a matter of "public interest", but rather the
"private interest" of a minority that fuels such disastrous policies.
Khzmalyan called the architects of such policies "blood-suckers".
Tehmineh Yenokyan, representing the EcoLur NGO, said they were
preparing a film about the situation in Kajarants. She claims that
the government failed to organize public hearings on the issue before
declaring the lands in question "eminent domain".
Yenokyan said that Kajaran isn't the only village in the area to be
affected, recounting that when she last visited, the village mayor
pointed to nearby mountains that will be dynamited to make way for
the mine. 600 hectares in all have been so designated, she said.
Yenokyan told reporters that villagers are not looking for compensation
but just the right to remain in their native village.
Yeghia Nersisyan, from the Save Trchkan Waterfall group, said that he
too had recently visited Kajaran and that the activists had a run-in
with Syunik Governor Souren Khachatryan.
Nersisyan said that Khachatryan didn't take kindly to the
environmentalists and even tried to hit a few of them.
At this, Khzmalyan chimed in, saying that the Syunik Governor couldn't
even find the road to the village. "He has a better sense of direction
regarding Yerevan's Marriott Hotel than his own backyard."
Khzmalyan said the mayor of Kajaran, who just days ago resigned
rather than sign a contract handing over village lands, "is a much
more mature politician than the president."
Yenokyan said that EcoLur has data showing unsafe traces of mercury
and arsenic in the hair of Kajaran children and that parents haven't
a clue what to do.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Mаry Mamyan
HETQ
December 20, 2011
At a press conference today regarding developments in the Syunik
village of Kajarants, Sardarapat Movement member Tigran Khzmalyan
declared that "the main function of the ruling regime is plunder."
Khzmalyan charged those in power with emptying the pockets of the
people for the past twenty years and that the wealth of the nation
has been concentrated in the hands of the few.
He charged the government is now bent of selling what little remains
because it knows that its days are numbered.
Regarding the situation in Kajarants, where village lands have been
designated "eminent domain" and whose residents are soon scheduled
to be resettled, Khzmalyan argued that the mines the government wants
to open do little to improve the lot of the people.
He said that it's not a matter of "public interest", but rather the
"private interest" of a minority that fuels such disastrous policies.
Khzmalyan called the architects of such policies "blood-suckers".
Tehmineh Yenokyan, representing the EcoLur NGO, said they were
preparing a film about the situation in Kajarants. She claims that
the government failed to organize public hearings on the issue before
declaring the lands in question "eminent domain".
Yenokyan said that Kajaran isn't the only village in the area to be
affected, recounting that when she last visited, the village mayor
pointed to nearby mountains that will be dynamited to make way for
the mine. 600 hectares in all have been so designated, she said.
Yenokyan told reporters that villagers are not looking for compensation
but just the right to remain in their native village.
Yeghia Nersisyan, from the Save Trchkan Waterfall group, said that he
too had recently visited Kajaran and that the activists had a run-in
with Syunik Governor Souren Khachatryan.
Nersisyan said that Khachatryan didn't take kindly to the
environmentalists and even tried to hit a few of them.
At this, Khzmalyan chimed in, saying that the Syunik Governor couldn't
even find the road to the village. "He has a better sense of direction
regarding Yerevan's Marriott Hotel than his own backyard."
Khzmalyan said the mayor of Kajaran, who just days ago resigned
rather than sign a contract handing over village lands, "is a much
more mature politician than the president."
Yenokyan said that EcoLur has data showing unsafe traces of mercury
and arsenic in the hair of Kajaran children and that parents haven't
a clue what to do.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress