hetq.am. The enforcement service is obliging the Abovyan community council to immediately allow the exploitation of the sand mine near Geghashen village. The villagers are against it.

 

Who wants to exploit the mine?

 

On June 21, 2022, by the order of the Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Gnel Sanosyan, "Antratsit" LLC received permission to extract sand from an area of 16.8 hectares in Geghashen village for 20 years. The company was registered in February 2021. According to the State Revenue Committee, it is engaged in sand extraction. The 100% shareholder of "Antratsit" LLC is Davit Samvelyan.

 

The village is against the mine

 

In 2021, before the permission was granted, the first public hearing regarding the exploitation of the mine took place in Geghashen village. According to the minutes, the participants welcomed the initiative. Besides the director of "Antratsit," Lia Ter-Avagyan, and the community leader, the hearings were attended by the deputy mayor, one council member, and four villagers.

 

Three months later, in October 2021, the second hearing took place. The mayor, the deputy, one council member, the director of "Antratsit," and five other residents of the community participated. According to the minutes, the attendees again welcomed the initiative.

 

At the third public hearing held in November, the composition of the participants was almost unchanged. However, apart from administrative staff, three residents attended this time, two of whom were also present at the previous hearing. According to the minutes, the attendees unanimously welcomed the project.

 

After that, Geghashen became part of the enlarged Abovyan community. In February 2022, more than forty people participated in the fourth hearing called by the new administrative head of Abovyan, Gor Hakobyan. The residents not only verbally expressed their opposition to the exploitation of the mine but also stated their position in the minutes: "I am against." The residents of "Hetq" said they were unaware of the first three hearings.

 

The Ministry agrees to the exploitation of the mine

 

The Ministry of Environment also mentioned the hearings in the environmental impact assessment, particularly the fourth one, when residents expressed their opposition.

 

According to the document, after the complaints, specialists were consulted to check whether the mine poses a danger to human health and the environment. The Ministry of Health and the Hydro-Meteorological and Monitoring Center responded that, according to their calculations, the harmful effects are within permissible limits, and the distance between the mine and residential areas meets legal requirements. The Ministry of Environment has given a positive conclusion for the exploitation of the mine, of course, setting norms that must be adhered to. According to this document, "Antratsit" must allocate 300,000 AMD annually for environmental monitoring.

 

The municipality has refused to provide the mine area

 

For the exploitation of the mine, the Abovyan community must lease the area to "Antratsit" LLC.

 

According to the data from the Datalex system, on May 10, 2023, a petition was submitted to the Abovyan municipality on behalf of 355 residents of Geghashen, stating that they are against the exploitation of the mine in the area adjacent to residential areas. The issue was then discussed in the council committee, where three out of five members opposed the project.

 

On May 18, 2023, the issue was presented to the Abovyan community council meeting, where 13 council members voted against, 9 abstained, and the decision to lease the land to "Antratsit" LLC was not accepted.

 

"Antratsit" has appealed to the Administrative Court, but the claim was rejected.

 

New developments

 

"Antratsit" LLC has once again appealed to the Administrative Court. The judge granted the company's request, applying a temporary satisfaction of the claim, which obliges the Abovyan council to allocate 7.7 hectares of land to the company without a competition.

 

We also have the same content decision from the Enforcement Service. Moreover, the decision of the Enforcement Service can be appealed, but during that time, the enforcement actions will not be suspended.

 

In fact, the Administrative Court and the Enforcement Service are obliging the council to provide the land on which the mine will be exploited until the final decision of the Administrative Court regarding the alienation of the land.

 

Today, on June 23, this issue is to be discussed at the Abovyan council meeting. The day before, "Hetq" tried to get clarification from the Abovyan municipality, and they said that the community leader has always been on the side of the residents, but in this case, there is a court mandate, and the possible outcomes will become clear today.

 

There is now a guard post in the mine area. A shift of four people is monitoring, but it is unclear what they are watching. They also have a shift leader. One of the guards passed the shift leader's phone number to "Hetq." We tried to clarify the phone number of the director or owner of "Antratsit." Our interlocutor urged to listen to both sides, mentioned that he would speak with the director and call us. However, he never called, and our calls went unanswered.

 

The Geghashen sand mine is located high above the village, and now scratches are visible on the hill, which, according to the villagers, are the result of exploitation in the last years of the Soviet era. Back then, when Spitak needed construction materials, sand was extracted from Geghashen. The elderly remember how dust filled the village during those years.

 

"Now that the mine has started working, as many snakes and scorpions as there are, the whole village is going to be filled, the houses are going to be filled, two or three years ago I was catching eight snakes a day from my house, the child couldn't sleep," said Geghashen resident Seyran Ghazaryan.

 

If a magnet is thrown on the road passing through the mine area, it will become clear that the sand is rich in iron. Now the open parts of the hill are mostly covered with grass, and the villagers take their livestock to graze in those areas.

 

"I still agree; let the mine owner come (editor's note - the mine owner), I will give him my house, he can come here with his family, his grandchildren, his clan. And I will drive those trucks, let that dust settle on his head, will he come? Will he live?" said Marat Manukyan, one of the closest residents to the mine area.

 

The residents of Geghashen are concerned that after the exploitation of the mine, they will not only be unable to graze their livestock but also that possible dust will harm their orchards, beehives, and people's health.

 

 

  -   Press of Diaspora