Today, March 26, another tense situation arose in the Armavir Region.
As photojournalist Gagik Shamshyan reports from the scene, residents of the village of Taronik, practically the entire village, are taking to the main Yerevan-Armavir road in protest.
In a conversation with the photojournalist, residents recounted:
“On March 15, we wanted to hold a similar protest. Specifically, because of the kilometer-long dirt road near the village, that day we felt the urge to paralyze the main road that runs through the entire village. We, children, adults, men, and women, went out into the street and were planning to block the road, but at the last minute we abandoned this extreme measure because we were promised that the problem would be solved. A problem that has existed for 30 years.
Now we’ll be accused of not raising our voices about this problem for 30 years. We’ve always raised our voices, both to previous and current authorities, verbally and in writing, and each time they promised that the paving would be done for the benefit of the residents. But, like the famous Gikor from the film, the days wore on, and the problem was never resolved.
We’re glad that the government, led by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, built a decent kindergarten in our village, for which the entire village is grateful. But who needs children to walk to kindergarten in the rain from head to toe, and then choke in dust in the summer? That’s why we don’t trust either the governor or the mayor. We’re placing our trust in the prime minister, who gave the village a good playground, and now we want him to oversee the complete renovation of this kilometer-long road, which has become a real disaster for our drivers.”
A photojournalist reports that representatives of the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure, the Ministry’s Road Management Fund, the head of the administrative district, and the developers who won the road construction tender attended a meeting with the protesters—or so the protesters claimed. Afterward, the villagers, this time believing the representatives’ words, refused to block the road.
The representatives promised to begin work on removing the cart from its location on April 30.