INFORMATION ABOUT MINING IN ARMENIA SHOULD BE AVAILABLE TO PUBLIC- EXPERT
YEREVAN, March 9. /ARKA/. Information about mining in Armenia should
be available to public, Levon Galstyan, a member of the Pan-Armenian
Environmental Front, said on Monday.
“In accordance with the Declaration of Independence of Armenia,
natural resources are our people’s property, and it is natural that
our country citizens has a right to know who uses these resources
and how they are used,” he said.
Galstyan told journalists that the Pan-Armenian Environmental Front had
asked the Armenian energy ministry to provide it information related
to mining companies’ activities in the country, mines, volumes of
the processed ore and inspections, but the ministry had declined the
request saying that the information contained geological data.
“If data about mines and processed ore are considered geological
information in Armenia, then it is senseless to speak about freedom
of using these data,” he said.
In his words, resources that are extracted and used after processing
and receiving concentrates are considered useful materials, while
wastes sent to tailing pounds are viewed dangerous and poisonous.
“Today nobody in Armenia know what substances are in our country’s 22
tailing pounds, where about one billion tons of accumulated wastes
are kept, and nobody knows what threat they pose and what useful
materials are kept there,” Galstyan said.
In his words, if people leaving nearby have no information, they
can’t be protected from danger.
“This problem need a serious approach from the government, but we
see nothing today and mining companies in Armenia are allowed to do
whatever they want,” he said.
Some 460 mines are being developed now in Armenia. Their total
territory is about 10,000 hectares. –0——