HMD’s Yerevan City Committee Seeks the Mayor: Where is Hayk Marutyan? How has the Yerevan City Hall Supported Residents During the Pandemic?

The HMD’s Yerevan City Committee has issued a statement, noting that the Yerevan City Hall has not taken necessary measures during the pandemic to help residents mitigate the effects of the outbreak as much as possible.

The statement reads:

“WHERE IS THE MAYOR OF YEREVAN
Much has been said about combating the coronavirus, particularly about how overcoming it largely depends on raising citizens’ self-awareness. According to police reports, approximately 45,000 administrative acts have been issued for not wearing masks and failing to comply with the conditions of the state of emergency, about 90 percent of which are in Yerevan.

So, what has the Yerevan City Hall done within its duties and authority to prevent these administrative acts from being issued and to help Yerevan and its residents mitigate the consequences of the pandemic? In essence, almost nothing.

City Hall employees have not patrolled the streets, nor have they informatively engaged with residents, educating them or providing practical assistance to businesses on how to maintain the necessary working conditions due to the state of emergency, they have not conducted adequate disinfection in public places, and so on.

Considering that public transport is among the highest risk areas and is essentially unprofitable during this period, it would have been unreasonable to rely solely on the self-awareness of drivers bringing in a few coins daily. The City Hall could have ensured the availability of disinfectant supplies in public transport.

Inspection bodies are taking turns showcasing their 'professionalism' in suspending the operations of businesses or sanctioning individuals. The Yerevan City Hall does not adequately contribute to the fight against the pandemic and remains entrenched in the political populism adopted by the current authorities in general. Soon, the authorities might say, 'People of Armenia, your only salvation is in wearing masks.'

Relying on the self-awareness of the public and placing the entire responsibility on them will not solve the problem, nor will it make the officials better. In this context, the question arises again: how is the Yerevan City Hall supporting the residents? Once again, we must address the increasingly rhetorical question: ‘Where is the Mayor of Yerevan, Hayk Marutyan?’”