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IDEA TO GRANT PRIVILEGES TO ARMENIA'S BORDER VILLAGES VERY 'UNIQUE' - OPINIONS
11:32 * 20.08.14
The initiative and willingness to grant privileges to the population
of Armenia's border villages has contented the mayor of Chinari
(Tavush region) who considers the government attention to their
community quite adequate and normal.
"The prime minister visited us, together with members of parliament, so
we discussed all the problems," Samvel Saghoyan told Tert.am addressing
the damages suffered as a result of the recent cross-border shootouts .
The proposal turned out to be a simultaneous initiative by the
executive and the six political forces represented in parliament.
Nikol Pashinyan of the opposition Armenian National Congress (ANC)
on Tuesday shared his own bill on Facebook, outlining the privileges
which he considered important for vulnerable communities.
The mayor of Chinari said that their community always faced
problems, despite the past weeks' border escalation that affected
many households. "Those problems existed, but we have always been
under spotlight. But that's important especially today to enable us to
strengthen and develop the villages. A person who lives in a village
has to cultivate the land and keep livestock in order to survive. And
the state gives the supply of seeds, diesel fuel and other resources.
The government's attention to us has been great recently," he noted.
Ruben Hakobyan, the opposition Hertiage faction's leader who visited
Tavush with other parliament members and officials this week-end,
said he doesn't find the initiative something new, with the political
majority's approval of the proposed plan being the only thing that
made the idea somewhat unique.
"The situation on the border is really very tense today. We, the
representatives of the six political forces, not only visited the
defense positions but also met with the communities' population; their
hard socio-economic conditions was not something new to us," he noted.
Asked about the amount of the state assistance, the opposition MP said,
"In our estimation, it will make up only one percent of our shadow
economy in case the state covers the costs of textbooks, utilities
bills and the bills for irrigation water. So it is possible to solve
all the problems with as much as 2 million [US] Dollars."
Commenting on the bill proposed by the ANC lawmaker, opposition
activist Arayik Harutyunyan said he doesn't find it a counterbalance
to the authorities' plan; he rather described the initiative as a
move necessitated by the circumstances.
"We started talking about it two or three months ago after we
conducted our first visit to the border communities amid the violent
bombings. This law wasn't born yesterday or the day before yesterday;
we had been talking about it for weeks," he said, noting that the
existing legislation does not establish a clear-cut framework of
definitions for border communities.
Harutyunyan said he expects the legal initiative to help at least help
prevent migration and increase the population in the border villages
and towns. "As we talked to the population in villages, they said that
in case such privileges are adopted they will not have to go Russia
or Kazakhstan to to do hard work. They said the biggest problem for
them is not being the at target of shootings, but rather the fact that
they do not enjoy any privileges while living in a dangerous zone,"
he said, stressing the importance of more drastic measures.
http://www.tert.am/en/news/2014/08/20/karciqner4/
11:32 * 20.08.14
The initiative and willingness to grant privileges to the population
of Armenia's border villages has contented the mayor of Chinari
(Tavush region) who considers the government attention to their
community quite adequate and normal.
"The prime minister visited us, together with members of parliament, so
we discussed all the problems," Samvel Saghoyan told Tert.am addressing
the damages suffered as a result of the recent cross-border shootouts .
The proposal turned out to be a simultaneous initiative by the
executive and the six political forces represented in parliament.
Nikol Pashinyan of the opposition Armenian National Congress (ANC)
on Tuesday shared his own bill on Facebook, outlining the privileges
which he considered important for vulnerable communities.
The mayor of Chinari said that their community always faced
problems, despite the past weeks' border escalation that affected
many households. "Those problems existed, but we have always been
under spotlight. But that's important especially today to enable us to
strengthen and develop the villages. A person who lives in a village
has to cultivate the land and keep livestock in order to survive. And
the state gives the supply of seeds, diesel fuel and other resources.
The government's attention to us has been great recently," he noted.
Ruben Hakobyan, the opposition Hertiage faction's leader who visited
Tavush with other parliament members and officials this week-end,
said he doesn't find the initiative something new, with the political
majority's approval of the proposed plan being the only thing that
made the idea somewhat unique.
"The situation on the border is really very tense today. We, the
representatives of the six political forces, not only visited the
defense positions but also met with the communities' population; their
hard socio-economic conditions was not something new to us," he noted.
Asked about the amount of the state assistance, the opposition MP said,
"In our estimation, it will make up only one percent of our shadow
economy in case the state covers the costs of textbooks, utilities
bills and the bills for irrigation water. So it is possible to solve
all the problems with as much as 2 million [US] Dollars."
Commenting on the bill proposed by the ANC lawmaker, opposition
activist Arayik Harutyunyan said he doesn't find it a counterbalance
to the authorities' plan; he rather described the initiative as a
move necessitated by the circumstances.
"We started talking about it two or three months ago after we
conducted our first visit to the border communities amid the violent
bombings. This law wasn't born yesterday or the day before yesterday;
we had been talking about it for weeks," he said, noting that the
existing legislation does not establish a clear-cut framework of
definitions for border communities.
Harutyunyan said he expects the legal initiative to help at least help
prevent migration and increase the population in the border villages
and towns. "As we talked to the population in villages, they said that
in case such privileges are adopted they will not have to go Russia
or Kazakhstan to to do hard work. They said the biggest problem for
them is not being the at target of shootings, but rather the fact that
they do not enjoy any privileges while living in a dangerous zone,"
he said, stressing the importance of more drastic measures.
http://www.tert.am/en/news/2014/08/20/karciqner4/