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Mine exploitation plan raises wave of protest in Armenian village

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  • Mine exploitation plan raises wave of protest in Armenian village

    Mine exploitation plan raises wave of protest in Armenian village

    12:21 * 30.08.14


    Villagers in the southern region of Vayots Dzor are going to organize
    a protest action against a plan to exploit a gold mine close to their
    community.

    Speaking to Tert.am, the mayor of Gndevaz, Hayrapet Lazarian, said
    the project aimed at launching the mine of Amulsar has angered the
    local youth who are concerned about the arable lands' future. "The
    village's youth has initiated this protest action. Our demand is to
    understand the technologies of exploitation. The major part of our
    lands goes to the exploiters. So what will become of the villagers if
    the stay in the village? What are they supposed to do?" he told
    Tert.am.

    The residents of other village communities in the region are not
    unanimous on the idea. "I cannot say how many of them are four and how
    many are against. Some want it; others do not. Some of the people are
    concerned about the village's future, while others think there will be
    workplaces for the villagers," Lazarian noted.

    The village mayor added he personally does not support the mine
    project. "The project has been submitted to us to let us know how and
    where the mines are going to be exploited and whether they will be
    open or close," he added.

    The fact that Gndevaz is in a risk zone was confirmed later by Inga
    Zarafyan, an environmental activist. "Risks in Gndevaz are rather
    high, as there are plans to build a cyanide factory there," she said,
    pointing out to hazards to other villages as well.

    She described mine exploitation plan as a big strategic threat to
    Armenia's water resources, biodiversity and soil layers.

    Levon Galstyan, another environmentalist whom we contacted for
    comments, also admitted the negative impact of the project. "The mine
    may affect the Vorotan river's basin. If it also affects the water
    reservoir in Kechut, that will have its impact on [lake] Sevan," he
    said.

    As for the conflict of interest among different villagers, Galstyan
    noted that most people agree to work in the mine for X sums of money.

    The environmentalist said he knows that 15,000 people in Armenia work
    in mining industries, the number being less than one percent of the
    country's population.

    "Seven hundred jobs are due open in Amulsar; some 400 [of the
    workforce] will be probably from the neighboring villages as there are
    no specialists in those villages at all. We expose an entire country
    to pollution for just 400 jobs, turning hectares of land lots into
    unusable land areas. We don't have those estimates; a mine similar to
    the one in Amulsar could not be exploited in any normal country,"
    Galstyan noted.

    Vahan Lazarian, a resident of Gndevaz who owns a land lot, said he is
    ready to sell it to mine exploiters, citing the need of creating jobs
    to prevent migration. "Yes, I am ready to give them my yard for
    money," he told our correspondent.

    International Finance Corporation and the European Bank for
    Reconstruction and Development are shareholders of Lydian
    International Ltd, the main company which owns the 100% package of
    Geoteam, a CJSC responsible for the Amulsar mine project's
    implementation in Armenia.


    http://www.tert.am/en/news/2014/08/30/amulsar-gndevaz/




    From: A. Papazian
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