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NO TO CYANIDE PLANT: MEGHRADZOR RESIDENTS STAGE PROTEST OUTSIDE PRESIDENTIAL PALACE
Narek Aleksanyan
http://hetq.am/eng/news/22679/no-to-cyanide-plant-meghradzor-residents-stage-protest-outside-presidential-palace.html
14:00, January 25, 2013
Residents of the Armenian town of Meghradzor, the site of a planned
cyanide plant, have come to Yerevan to stage a protest outside the
Presidential Palace today.
Carrying banners reading "No to Cyanide" and "Think of the Children",
the protestors submitted a letter addressed to President Sargsyan to
the Palace's correspondence unit. They want Sargsyan to halt any such
construction, arguing that a chemical plant will cause damage to the
health of the local populace and agriculture.
Hetq spoke to some of the protestors from Meghradzor
Bakhshi Grigoryan - The plant is only 300 meters from our homes. They
tell us they will collect the wastes and remove them. In our
estimation, that is impossible. That cyanide will flow into the river
where the villagers have drilled wells. The closed pit mine has been
operating for 1 year and a half with no problem. But the new open
pit mine will be a disaster for us.
Tatoul Karapetyan - Environmentalists and scientists have told us
that the village will suffer greatly. The authorities don't take our
interests into consideration.
Samvel Lazarian - They are showing us false scientific studies
claiming that an open pit mine is safe. They also say the mine will
provide jobs to the villagers. No one is ready to prevent the gold
extraction process, but we oppose the construction of a new mine
that will use cyanide to extract the gold. They are trying to make
the maximum profit with a minimum of resources and by damaging the
environment. Public hearings were only attended by plant workers and
people shipped in from elsewhere.
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Narek Aleksanyan
http://hetq.am/eng/news/22679/no-to-cyanide-plant-meghradzor-residents-stage-protest-outside-presidential-palace.html
14:00, January 25, 2013
Residents of the Armenian town of Meghradzor, the site of a planned
cyanide plant, have come to Yerevan to stage a protest outside the
Presidential Palace today.
Carrying banners reading "No to Cyanide" and "Think of the Children",
the protestors submitted a letter addressed to President Sargsyan to
the Palace's correspondence unit. They want Sargsyan to halt any such
construction, arguing that a chemical plant will cause damage to the
health of the local populace and agriculture.
Hetq spoke to some of the protestors from Meghradzor
Bakhshi Grigoryan - The plant is only 300 meters from our homes. They
tell us they will collect the wastes and remove them. In our
estimation, that is impossible. That cyanide will flow into the river
where the villagers have drilled wells. The closed pit mine has been
operating for 1 year and a half with no problem. But the new open
pit mine will be a disaster for us.
Tatoul Karapetyan - Environmentalists and scientists have told us
that the village will suffer greatly. The authorities don't take our
interests into consideration.
Samvel Lazarian - They are showing us false scientific studies
claiming that an open pit mine is safe. They also say the mine will
provide jobs to the villagers. No one is ready to prevent the gold
extraction process, but we oppose the construction of a new mine
that will use cyanide to extract the gold. They are trying to make
the maximum profit with a minimum of resources and by damaging the
environment. Public hearings were only attended by plant workers and
people shipped in from elsewhere.
Home page