ARMENIAN ENVIRONMENTALISTS PREVENT PUBLIC HEARINGS IN KHOSROV FOREST
TERT.AM
05.11.12
Armenia’s Ministry of Nature Protection cannot hold public hearings
in the Khosrov forest because of environmentalists, Gor Hakobyan,
one of the activists, told Tert.am.
The unauthorized construction projects at the heart of the forest
are on the agenda, he said.
Mr Hakobyan is well aware of the environmentalists’ further steps.
The environmentalists are indignant at the fact that they were not
invited to the public hearings despite the fact that they were the
first to raise the illegal construction problem.
“After we have raised the problem once more, they are pretending to
be cooperating with us and have organized debate today. The problem
is that they have only invited environmental protection NGOs,”
Hakobyan said. However, the Ministry of Nature Protection reached
first agreement over the problem with environmental activists.
The Ministry of Nature Protection has to right to a selective approach,
and all those wishing to take part in the hearings have the right to.
As regards the building proper, the Ministry of Nature Protection
plans to either pull it down or use as a research center.
“We distrust government bodies in that the building will, in the
course of time, be turned into an entertainment center under the
guise of research center,” Hakobyan said.