Metal Mining Industry Banned in Jermuk

The Armenian Environmental Front has released a statement, which we present in full:

“The principle of direct democracy has recorded another success in Armenia. The council of the enlarged community of Jermuk adopted a resolution on December 18, 2018, approving the proposal presented by the community residents in a collective petition regarding transforming the Jermuk community into an eco-economic zone and banning metal mining in the community.

The council adopted this decision with 7 votes in favor, 0 against, and 0 abstentions, guided by point 42 of part 1 of Article 18 of the Republic of Armenia’s Law on Local Self-Government, point 3 of part 1 of Article 4 of the Republic of Armenia’s Law on Petitions, considering the petition submitted by more than three thousand residents of Jermuk and following the principles of local self-governance outlined in part 3 of Article 184 of the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia and Article 8 of the Law on Local Self-Government.

It is noteworthy that the overwhelming majority of the current population of Jermuk exercised their right to direct democracy and submitted a collective petition with approximately 3000 signatures to the government and the council and leader of the Jermuk community, presenting their vision for the economic development of their region and demanding that metal mining be banned and green eco-economy development be encouraged.

In the petition, the residents also mentioned the following:

“By providing positive conclusions for gold extraction in Amulsar, the previous governments have violated our right to participate in the decision-making that affects us. Before 2016, our community’s largest city, Jermuk, was not even considered affected by the Amulsar project. Then, after being declared affected in 2016, public hearings were not properly organized. The Lydian company and representatives of the former authorities ignored us and tried to mislead or intimidate us. We demand that the new government respect the will of the people, and with this hope, we present this petition.”

The government has yet to respond to the demands presented in this petition.

For over six months, in protest, the residents of Jermuk have continued to block the roads leading to the Amulsar mountain area, preventing construction works from being carried out.

P.S. In May of this year, the council of Noyemberyan also adopted a similar resolution, banning geological exploration and the exploitation of metal mines in their community. This decision was also made based on a petition submitted by residents, which was signed by 3074 residents.