Category: 2018

PanARMENIAN.Net – In mid-summer, construction work was been launched in the village of Arpi in Armenia's Vayots Dzor province and is set to be completed by the end of the year. As a result, Arpi will join the list of settlements using energy-saving technologies.

Residents, looking forward to the launch of the state-of-the-art energy-efficient LED system, highlight the importance of the solution of street lighting issue from several points of view: the difference of development between the capital and their village will be partially reduced, the flow of people and security during evening hours will increase, the financial burden of the village will be relieved.

“There are problem the solution of which systematizes many issues. Outdoor lighting is one of them. A farmer dealing with farming and cattle-breeding goes to haying in the evening hours to avoid the heat. Yet, during those hours security issues emerge: wild animals enter the village in the evening hours. The issue of street lighting of the village is an urgent problem that must be solved,” said the head of the administrative territory of the village Gagik Hovsepyan.

VivaCell-MTS and the Foundation for the Preservation of Wildlife and Cultural Assets (FPWC) are collaborating organizations that have made the development of infrastructures of rural communities an important program direction and contribute to the provision of outdoor lighting in Arpi village. Residents are sure that the solution of this problem will enable coordination of other important issues concerning, for example, first medical aid: evening visits to the patients’ houses will no longer be difficult.

“Usually diseases become aggravated during evening hours, and for providing necessary injections or medical assistance, we have to reach the patient’s home through dark streets. The absence of lighting complicates everything: not everyone has a car in the village; sometimes no one accompanies us to the patient’s home. Outdoor lighting is a necessity,” said family nurse Nektar Martirosyan.

With the efforts of collaborating structures, the post-soviet situation will remain in the past. The attitude of the villagers towards public property and their confidence in not being neglected will change. The program of installing energy-sufficient technologies will give an opportunity to relieve the financial burden of the village and will contribute to the preservation of clean and sustainable environment.

PanARMENIAN.Net – The Vice-Chair of the New South Wales Parliamentary Friends of Armenia, Walt Secord MLC rose in the Legislative Council of Australia's largest state and declared his continuing solidarity with the Armenian-Australian community, reported the Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC-AU).

Secord, who is the son of a Mohawk-Ojibway First Nation man from Canada, has taken a keen interest in Armenian issues since the very beginning of his political career in Australia. His pioneering visits to Armenia, Western Armenia, Artsakh and Javakhk solidified his support for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide and the rights to self-determination for the Armenians in the Republic of Artsakh.

In his speech on Tuesday, November 13, Secord said: "As deputy chair of the parliamentary friends, my personal relationship with the Armenian community has also deepened. I have also visited Armenia on two occasions, Artsakh, Javakhk, the Gulbenkian in Portugal, Western Armenia including Kars, Van, Ani, Masis and Pokr Masis."

"To my deep pleasure every time I visit a community—whether it is in Singapore, Lisbon, Gyumri, Lake Sevan, Tbilisi, Stepanakert or Sydney's north—I discover a new aspect of the Armenian story. Since getting to know the Armenian community, I find myself seeking out all things Armenian. Most recently, it was the films of Atom Egoyan, Ararat and Noy Armenian brandies, Vasily Grossman's An Armenian Sketchbook, the music and ballet of Aram Khachaturian, and Sydney soprano Natalie Aroyan, whom I have seen perform in many Opera Australia productions. I now take a deep interest in the Armenian entry in Eurovision."

ANC-AU Executive Director, Haig Kayserian thanked Secord, who is the Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the NSW Legislative Council and the Shadow Minister for Health, the Arts, and the North Coast.

"Our community has long recognised that Mr. Secord embodies morality in politics," Kayserian said. "Mr. Secord visited Artsakh and faced the ire of the petro-dictatorship of Azerbaijan for supporting the rights to self-determination of the Armenians of the Republic of Artsakh. He has always argued for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide and maintains his exemplary moral compass on issues that impact other survivor communities around the world."

Kayserian added: "We thank Mr. Secord for his speech and look forward to continuing our community's relationship with him."