1 / 46

On April 20, the National Assembly continued to debate the report on the process and results of the implementation of the Government Programme of the Republic of Armenia (2021-2026) for 2022 at the extraordinary sitting.

The RA Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Gnel Sanosyan responded to the deputies’ questions, which related to the reform of the irrigation network and the construction of new reservoirs, the repair of the bad community roads and the road construction projects, the issues of subsoil use, in particular, illegal sand mining, subvention programmes, the construction of kindergartens, the export of electricity from Armenia and the possibility of reducing the electricity tariff for the RA population, the opportunity of building gyms and swimming pools in the communities, etc.

Touching upon the issues of road construction and their repair, the Minister noted that the roads they are talking about are really in a bad condition.

The NA deputy of the Civil Contract Faction Hayk Tsirunyan inquired from the Minister about the extraction of sand from the coastal and border areas of River Araks, mentioning that illegal extraction has increased. According to the deputy, the members of the NA Standing Committee on Economic Affairs visited the coastal regions of River Araks and saw everything with their own eyes. According to Hayk Tsirunyan, entrepreneurs are asking to modernize the licensing procedure for new mines or increasing the volumes of the existing ones. “It is also necessary to increase the supervisory functions and powers of the inspection bodies,” the deputy said, clarifying that the objective of the proposals is washing the river sand properly and therefore to protect the river.

“It is an important, painful and serious area and issue. Realizing the seriousness of this problem, a working group was created by the Prime Minister’s assignment and decision, which has already held two sittings. The group includes representatives of a number of bodies. The question is quite delicate. Closing and stopping everything will seem easy at first sight, but on the other hand, it will lead to the fact that in some areas we will have to watch every day that new illegal mines do not open overnight, when they start digging an area, carry four trucks of sand, and then that area becomes a semi-swamp place. The second problem is the large-scale construction going on in the country, which should not be damaged,” the Minister said in response. According to him, first of all, it is necessary to fix those entrepreneurs, whose activity caused a change in the course of River Araks, which is unacceptable. “Those companies should be forced to restore the riverbed with their own funds,” Gnel Sanosyan underscored. He expressed hope that the working group will find the right solutions to the problem.