On 18 December, a discussion on “Environmental Issues in Syunik Marz and Related Corruption Risks” was organized in the AYLA Branch Office of Syunik marz in the framework of “Multi-Faceted Anti-Corruption Promotion” Project funded by the European Union. It was organized jointly with the efforts of the AYLA Syunik Branch and Anti-Corruption Coalition of CSOs of Syunik marz with participation of then CSOs that work in the environmental sector.
Participants were mostly inclined to think that major environmental problem in Syunik marz is the result of unfair and illegal activities of the mining industries.
Armen Parsadanyan, President of “Sustainable Development” NGO believes that the environmental problems are mainly due to the fact that the public bodies of the sphere do not involve the SCOs in decision-making processes and are not transparent. In addition, the regulatory laws and regulations of the sphere have fairly large gaps and are tailored to the interests of the economic subjects rather than to the interests of the state and the population of the region. He said that he repeatedly had carried out monitoring of the sphere and provided the recorded violations to the relevant authorities, however no results were achieved.
Ashot Avagyan, Coordinator of “Aarhus” Center of Kapan also stated that he repeatedly tried to bring the complaints to the state authorities; however the latter were indifferent to the issues raised. Therefore, he suggested the Coalition to carry out more effective fights in this sphere with joint efforts.
Vladimir Martirosyan, President of “Khustup” Environmental NGO stated that in addition to mining industry there were other problems of urgent importance as well. He said that the State had stopped planting forests, and the fact affected the environment.
