The Government is Not Thinking About the People: If They Grant Permission for the Exploitation of the Amulsar Mine, Residents Will Leave Their Homes

Members of the 'Bright Armenia' parliamentary faction have visited Jermuk. They are touring the city and discussing the exploitation of the Amulsar mine with citizens, listening to their opinions as well.

In an interview with Tert.am in Jermuk, the secretary of the faction Gevorg Gorgisyan stated that allocating $400,000 for the examination of the Amulsar mine is a waste of money. "The government must answer for meaningless expenditure of budget funds. That money was given to an organization that essentially conducted no actual research, merely reviewed documentation. No real research has been done on site, and that cannot inspire any confidence, therefore it was simply a waste of funds. The current government is prosecuting members of the previous government for similar actions. Now, someone has squandered $400,000. This money was given to an organization whose conclusions are essentially meaningless and do not provide answers to any questions. Now new reviews of the environmental impact assessments and new measurements need to be taken," noted Gorgisyan.

The secretary of the faction stated that the purpose of visiting Jermuk is to communicate with citizens to understand their stance on the Amulsar issue. "Pro-government lawmakers who support the exploitation of the Amulsar mine claim that there are citizens who are in favor, but we see that these people will not allow their homes to be destroyed at any cost. They are firmly opposed. No one on site believes the results of that examination. No one takes the Prime Minister's or Deputy Prime Minister's words seriously. What people see here cannot be countered by arguments, because the people see the opposite," he said.

A resident of Jermuk, speaking with Tert.am, questioned, "If the Amulsar mine is not harmful, why were the waters of Gndevaz and Kechut polluted two years ago during the blasts? Washing machines were damaged." Another local resident added, "We would turn on the washing machines, do laundry, and they would break. We opened them, and there were stones inside. Later, when we informed them, they brought washing machines to distribute," he said.

According to residents, if the government grants permission for the exploitation of the Amulsar mine, the people of Jermuk and nearby communities will leave their homes. "If Amulsar is exploited, then all of Armenia will perish. All the water will go and fill Lake Sevan," he noted.

Another Jermuk resident expressed their concerns, stating, "It is wrong to open the mine while killing the people. The local water flows to Sevan, Goris, and the Ararat Valley, and that poisoning goes with that water. Now the water is divided among half of Armenia, so half of Armenia should perish," they asserted.

The resident emphasized that high salaries in the mine are secondary if people's lives are in danger. "In the time of the Communists, they could have opened this mine, but they thought about the people, and that's why they didn’t. Now it has fallen into their hands, and they do whatever they want without thinking about the people. Someone should think about this people, or should the people just emigrate from here?" they concluded.