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Greens Union: Preserve The Orchards of Dalma - in Yerevan

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  • Greens Union: Preserve The Orchards of Dalma - in Yerevan

    The Greens Union of Armenia
    Contact: Dr. Hakob Sanasarian,
    President of The Greens Union
    Address: Mamikoniants St. 47-13, Yerevan, Armenia.
    Telephone: (374-2) 257 -634.
    US Contact: Dr. Anne Shirinian, phone/fax (732) 462-9089
    E-mail: [email protected]


    PRESERVE THE ORCHARDS OF DALMA

    Environmentalists from Armenia are asking from Armenian-American
    organizations to appeal to the government of Armenia (through letters,
    phone calls, etc.) for the preservation of the "Orchards of Dalma",
    situated in Yerevan.

    In recent years, Yerevan's Mayor's Office has shown a consistent and a
    clear posture in favor of building and developing the area occupied by
    "The Orchards of Dalma" (The Orchards). This area, covering about 533
    hectares, possesses undeniably great historic, cultural values and rare
    natural resources (3000-year old water canals and underground tunnels,
    rare plant species, such as rare species of grapevines, etc.). About 60
    hectares out of 533 hectares have already been developed during the
    Soviet period. A few years ago, The Greens had exposed former mayor
    Bazeyan's letter (01/18-2702N, 07.08.2000), addressed to the government,
    offering "a scheme of functional zoning" of The Orchards. In this
    letter-document, the Mayor was proposing to build a high-speed road
    through The Orchards, also public areas occupying 25 hectares, two
    housing complexes covering 70 hectares, a golf course - diplomatic club
    occupying 50-60 hectares, etc. At the same time, with another
    letter-document (02/18-110, 14.02.2003), the Mayor's office has applied
    to the Ministry of Nature Protection for permission to set aside 10
    hectares of The Orchards. According to the letter, out of 10 hectares, 5
    hectares will be used for the construction of a plant, which will be
    manufacturing watch parts for a privately held Swiss company called
    "Frank Muller Armenia". Note that this plant will be producing toxic
    waste-stream, for which there is no treatment plan reported or revealed
    to the public. The architect's letter claims that it is the wish of the
    Swiss company to build its plant in The Orchards. ( According to our
    sources, the major shareholder of this company is a Swiss citizen Vartan
    Sermakesh. We would like to know if, indeed, Mr. Sermakesh has asked
    for a building site in The Orchards, whether he has been informed of the
    historic significance and of the natural values of The Orchards, and
    whether he has been made aware of the availability of many other
    industrial sites in other cities.)

    Unfortunately, on March 27th, 2004, the prime minister signed Resolution
    No. 1941-A, titled "About Changing Land Use and Borders of Lands In the
    Preserve of Yerevan's Orchards of Dalma", thus opening this green and
    unique area for development without any public discussions and without
    putting this issue to a vote.

    In addition, again, with no public discussion, and, in violation of
    Armenian laws, the government has allocated (with unknown terms) a
    portion of The Orchards to the territory of the US Embassy, which has
    already begun construction on this site containing ancient archaeological
    diggings.

    Also, for many decades, 1,800 growers have been leasing a portion of The
    Orchards and producing native crops, fruits and vegetables, at the same
    time keeping it green and productive, while feeding their families.
    With the present scheme of "zoning" and "development", there will be no
    land left to be leased to the growers, meaning that these growers will
    suffer significant financial losses.

    We would like to preserve the natural treasures of The Orchards of Dalma
    for the future generations. We would like to preserve its
    archaeological, historical and cultural values.
    (end)
    --Boundary_(ID_/X6/ZIvXZldiFeoKr5XZ9A)--

    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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