Epress.am News from Armenia
All the laws in the Republic of Armenia are quite good — it’s just that none of them are applied, said Trchkan public initiative group members, environmentalists Arman Vermishyan, Levon Galstyan and attorney Meri Khachatryan in a meeting with the press earlier today.
“We have to see with our eyes, otherwise we can’t believe or trust it,” said Khachatryan.
The activists were disappointed with the Law on Assessing Environmental Impact approved by the National Assembly at its first reading.
“The National Assembly called hearings on Dec. 2, but it didn’t wait for the amendments made by an authorized body. We’re convinced that the majority of parliament didn’t read this law — without discussion, they simply pressed the buttons [to vote]. Such indifference has created an atmosphere of distrust — considering we’ve been fooled once, we don’t want to be fooled twice. This is the impression we get, that our authorities have decided to destroy, completely empty and eat all of the contents of Armenia’s entrails,” said Vermishyan.
The environmentalist believes that the law doesn’t serve environmental assessment; meanwhile, this is decisive for the future condition of Armenia’s nature.
According to Galstyan, there are several shortcomings to the law approved on Dec. 2; therefore, it is subject to change. This is the reason why they haven’t made any recommendations.
Notably, though only Trchkan group members were invited to the meeting, representatives of Armenia’s Ministry of Nature Protection had come of their own will.
The ministry officials asserted that the Law on Environmental Impact Assessment — like air and water — is necessary for Armenia, accusing the Trchkan activists of not making recommendations or making them too late.
They assured that the nature protection ministry is ready to hear and accept any recommendation; how they will deal with this in parliament, however, is something else altogether.
Trchkan group members say they have appealed to the Armenian president, but they have been given neither a response nor a meeting. They find that this matter has to be resolved under the president’s direct supervision; otherwise, approving the law is not enough — it needs to be applied and executed.