HEARING OF ACTION BROUGHT BY ASSOCIATION OF AGROECOLOGISTS OF ARMENIA AGAINST MAYOR’S OFFICE STARTS

Noyan Tapan
Oct 31 2006

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 31, NOYAN TAPAN. The hearing of the action brought
by the Association of AgroEcologists of Armenia against the Yerevan
Mayor’s Office started on October 30 at the Court of First Instance of
the Kentron and Nork-Marash communities of Yerevan. The Association
of AgroEcologists of Armenia disputes the Yerevan Mayor’s decision
on recognizing invalid the agreement signed between the Botanical
Institute of the National Academy of Sciences and itself. According
to the mentioned agreement, the association was alloted a plot
of 5 hectares for foundation of an ethnographic center. It was
envisaged to build in the center 18 two-storey buildings for 100-120
tourists. According to the claimant, the alloted territory was already
cleaned, filling of grounds for 12 houses was implemented. It was also
mentioned that more than 60 mln drams (about 150 thousand U.S. dollars)
were paid for architectural-construtional works, and the association
was indepted to the projecting and construction organizations. In
words of representatives of the Association of AgroEcologists of
Armenia, there was no deviation from the envisaged program. But,
the term fixed by the contract for the envisaged works did not
complete yet, when the Mayor’s Office made a decision on recognizing
invalid the agreement given earlier by itself, with a reasoning of
the association’s not implementing the undertaken obligations. But,
the representative of the Mayor’s Office was not able to answer
chairing judge Gayane Karakhanian’s question which those obligations
were. She only mentioned that she would present additional information
to the court at the next sitting. At the same time, the Mayor’s Office
representative particularly justified adoption of the new decision
with the public displeasure on the occasion of the issue as well
as with the circumstance that the program contradicts goals of the
activity of the botanical park.

The next court sitting will take place on November 10.