Daily Monitoring in Place, We Must Understand the Impact of the Mine on Soil, Water, and Noise - Pashinyan

“We bring in competent people, and then they say that this one is not competent. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan visits the homes of citizens in Jermuk. He first visited the home of Gohar Hunanian, who recently arrived from the USA.

“I have returned and settled in Armenia in Jermuk because I came to live in an ecologically clean place. I want this clean, pristine nature to be preserved. I have many friends who want to come to Armenia. From this house, you can see the entire mountain of Amulsar and the city. I don't want to go to a place where nature is being polluted,” said Gohar Hunanian.

Prime Minister Pashinyan agreed with her but noted that the question remains whether the operation of the Amulsar mine poses a threat to nature. In response to the Prime Minister's statement, Gohar Hunanian said that competent people should be brought in to answer this question.

“We bring in competent people, and then they say that this one is not competent. We bring in even more competent people, and again they say this one is not it. Now we need to gather all the competent people around the world to understand. Our pre-election program also states that Armenia should have a concept of ecosystem. Let’s assume that the mine operates; we need to understand what impact that mine has on soil, water, and noise. Even before the revolution, $400 million has already been spent on this little mountain. I have been informed that there is daily, weekly, and monthly monitoring. The group, made up of civil society members, government representatives, experts, and company representatives, will take grass samples daily to send to a laboratory. If it turns out that the dust on the grass is higher than expected, they are given 90 days to address the issue. If the problem is not resolved, the state has legal grounds to suspend the mine's operations,” Pashinyan detailed.

Gohar Hunanian asked the Prime Minister not to disappoint them, as she believes in Nikol Pashinyan.