Activists demand holding new examination of gold mining at Amulsar

Lack of information about the project for the development of the Amulsar deposit casts doubt on the conclusions of the earlier environmental impact assessment, activists assert. During a protest in Yerevan, they demanded to conduct a new examination of the gold mining, and also called on the authorities to voice out their position on this issue.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on August 20, activists held a motor rally from the city of Jermuk to Yerevan, announcing this as the start of a series of peaceful disobedience actions.

In the evening on August 20, the defenders of Amulsar marched from Freedom Square to the building of the Armenian Government. There, at the building, the protesters stretched out a banner with the inscription "As long as we are, no mine" with the hashtags #strong mountain and #Saved_Amulsar, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

In front of the building, activists read out a letter addressed to Nikol Pashinyan, the Prime Minister, and Romanos Petrosyan, the Minister of Environment, in which they called them to invalidate the assessments of the impact of the Amulsar project on the environment, made by the ELARD Company, and appoint a new expert examination, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent has reported.

"The [ELARD's] conclusion clearly states that based on the provided information, it's impossible to assess the impact of the Amulsar project on the environment; therefore, we need a new examination," Levon Galstyan, a member of the All-Armenian Environmental Front, said in his speech.

The event ended with a 15-minute silence, which, according to activists, "symbolizes the government's silence on the Amulsar issue."

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 21, 2020 at 01:09 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.