By Times.am at 6 May, 2010, 10:47 pm
Yerevan Municipality has disclaimed all responsibility for illegal felling of 20 trees in the city center for construction of a cafe in the “Student Park.”
The official website of the Yerevan Municipality says the Ministry of Nature Protection of Armenia is authorized to control and apply penalties. In the meanwhile, during the discussions on the given problem on April 27 a representative of the Ministry Garnik Manukyan said the owners of the cafe have all the necessary documents for construction. Crucial is that the document have been approved by the Yerevan Municipality.
The main problem is that the park, which earlier belonged to the Agrarian University, has been transferred to the Yerevan Municipality, which approved large-scale construction on the place of the park despite its love to flora and fauna. G. Manukyan said the decision to allot the area for construction was not coordinated either with the Ministry or with other authorities concerned. Unfortunately, the municipality and the ministry disclaim all responsibility for the situation.
To recall, the cafe in one of the Yerevan parks has been a subject for ceaseless disputes between ecologists and Municipality of Yerevan for over a month. According to the Association of Consumers of Armenia, the cafe “swallowed” 20 trees, which is proved by photos and video-materials. At the same time, the official position of the Municipality is that the trees became the victims of not an axe, but excavators, which allegedly caught them accidentally. Transparency International Anti-Corruption Center has already pledged to sue the owner of the construction. Internet users also came out in support of the park. A group “We are the owners of our city” has been created at Facebook social net that has involved over 2000 people. They initiated signature collection under the open letter to President Serzh Sargsyan demanding restoration of the park. Discussions on the given problem were held at the Municipality on May 5 with
participation of the group members who say that no specific decisions and agreements were made.
/Arminfo/
