Avetisyan: 'In our opinion, the amount of the fine is quite low and needs to be increased'

The Yerevan Municipality is discussing the increase of fines for failing to implement measures to prevent dust emissions during construction.

In an interview with an Armenpress correspondent, Gorik Avetisyan, Deputy Head of the Environmental Protection Department of the Yerevan Municipality, expressed confidence that the amount of the fine should be commensurate with the costs of implementing preventive measures for dust emissions during construction.

According to him, during one of the recent procedural meetings held at the Yerevan Municipality, the mayor instructed to develop regulations regarding the installation of protective nets at construction sites. In line with another instruction, the legal department of the municipality is working on the adjustment of fine amounts.

“In our opinion, the amount of the fine is quite low and needs to be increased to be comparable with the costs that the constructor must incur for installing air quality monitoring devices or carrying out fencing. It should not be the case that they decide, purely by looking at the costs, that the fine is lower and therefore more advantageous to be fined several times than to implement the necessary measures and reduce emissions,” Avetisyan explained, adding that the municipality's legal department will study international practices and correlate the amounts of fines and those costs to determine a more reasonable amount for the fines, after which the municipality will initiate the relevant amendment process in the law.