Calm down! Do not shout! - Governor says to protesting villager (video)
Residents of Goght community in Kotayk province have blocked the Goght-Yerevan roadway since morning, demanding to stop Geghardalitch Gravity Irrigation System Project. Residents of Garni have joined them. Governor of Kotayk, Karapet Guloyan, has arrived in the village to talk to the demonstrators. He told the villagers he had not come to persuade them to open the road. “I am speaking to you openly and clearly, you are free to do whatever you want to, but I think you will not achieve anything if you continue in the same way. I suggest that you wait a little. I shall ask the constructors to discontinue the work unless we convene hearings on Monday or on Tuesday. I shall invite specialists from the Ministry of Nature Protection and we shall discuss together what can be done in the given situation,’ the governor said. However, the villagers said they do not want to wait until next week and they want the issue to be solved tomorrow. “Hey, what do mean by saying tomorrow?” “We want the construction equipment to be removed from the site,” said one of the protesters. “Look here, that is not within my powers. I can only ask them to discontinue the work until we hold hearings,” said Karapet Guloyan. One of the villagers repeated their demand in an angered voice saying they did not want to wait. “Do calm down! Do not shout. Everyone here is speaking in a quiet voice. Do not get irritated. If you want the construction be stopped I shall go and talk to them now and we shall convene hearings on Monday or Tuesday, but you will have to stop the protest and open the road afterwards,” Mr Guloyan said. He added that the equipment could not be removed. After Guloyan’s departure, the villagers continued their protest.
