A group of citizens on Thursday held a protest in front of the office of a private company engaged in garbage disposal in the Armenian capital of Yerevan.
According to the demonstrators, the Lebanese-run company has provided poor services for the city, leaving it littered with garbage throughout the summer months.
Along with other protesters Arusik Mkrtchian brought with her a plastic bag with garbage that she said she had collected in the yard of her residential building that had not been removed from there for days.
“They do not collect it anyway, that’s why I’ve decided to bring it myself,” said Mkrtchian. “I live in the city center. This situation can simply cause an epidemic outbreak. It is disgusting to see this garbage and smell it. People don’t know what to do. The same disgraceful situation is everywhere.”
The problem of Sanitek’s poor waste disposal has repeatedly been raised by Armenian authorities in recent weeks. Last month the Yerevan municipality imposed a fine of over $25,000 on the company and warned it about stricter sanctions ahead unless the situation improved. Yet, the situation does not appear to have improved since then.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian also addressed the issue in his weekend live Facebook broadcast. He said that the government was concerned about the situation that he described as unacceptable. He said it was the consequence of the “short-sighted policy” of the Yerevan mayor’s office.
“A [waste disposal] monopoly has, in fact, been created in the city, and poor management in this system in recent years has led to the problems we experience today,” said Pashinian. “We must draw serious conceptual conclusions. I think one of the options may be that we place several companies and not just one in charge of garbage collection in the capital.”
Pashinian also advocated the construction of a recycling plant in Armenia to solve the problems of waste dumps.
In explaining the deterioration of its work several weeks ago a Sanitek manager said the company experienced shortage of garbage trucks that he said frequently broke down because of bad roads leading to the landfill site. Sanitek also claimed excessive damage to its trash cans caused by residents that increases overall costs for the company.
Kristina Hovannisian, an assistant to the Sanitek executive director, met with participants of today’s protest. She said that the executive director was not in town and promised that the company will hold a press conference at the end of next week to answer all questions.
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