Epress.am News from Armenia
Since the Armenian government has a new leader, who visits various places and makes big promises, the Greens' Union of Armenia has decided to familiarize him with an important environmental issue — the matter of legislation in the mining industry — in the hope that the newly appointed prime minister will take clear action. This was conveyed to Epress.am by Greens' Union of Armenia leader Hakob Sanasaryan.
On April 29, Sanasaryan sent a letter to PM Hovik Abrahamyan, but about two weeks later, he found out the letter had not been delivered to the head of government.
"They store the letters in a drawer. They told me they will deliver it to the ministers; that is, the letter won't even get to the prime minister. A similar thing happened in 2008, when Tigran Sargsyan became prime minister. I also wrote a letter then, but six weeks later it turned out the letter had not been delivered to the prime minister," he said.
In the open letter, the environmentalist described the unjustified privileges mining companies have in Armenia: they don't pay for damage to the land or water system or for geological surveys; they are exempt from paying tax on tailings, as well as on the water consumed; and they also have import and export privileges.
"We have passed laws [in Armenia] that legalize robbery. If the prime minister really wants to change something, he has to start with this. Let them introduce new laws in parliament," he said.
With a call to introduce legislative initiatives in this sector, Sanasaryan sent open letters also to all the parliamentary factions, having greater hopes on those who call themselves opposition parties.