Pashinyan calls for organizing proper waste management in Armenia 'after clearing off political garbage’

Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Monday voiced his concerns over the poor waste management in Armenia as he met with the residents of Martuni as part of a working trip to the Gegharkunik region.

Pashinyan said he every time experiences “a deep sorrow” upon seeing motorways and open-air sites “buried totally in waste”.

He blamed the former authorities for the mismanagement, calling for urgent efforts towards organizing proper waste disposal activities across the country. “Our biggest challenge today is that we do not have a waste recycling plant,” he said, stressing the need of an individual-based approach.

The acting premier said he has a feeling that a vast majority of the active smokers themselves contribute to the environmental pollution in Armenia "by throwing cigarette butts in public places".

“The former authorities used to teach us to live in political garbage, which we certainly managed to clear off. Now is the time for cleaning the physical, intellectual and moral garbage, coupled with that of disappointment.”

Waste isn’t something an Armenian citizen should ever normally tolerate notwithstanding its form, the acting prime minister said, noting that the country should instead pride itself on being the fatherland of world-class record-breaking champions and heroes (such as Simon Martirosyan, and Yuri Vardanyan who passed away recently).

“The idea behind this revolution is our ability to prove – to ourselves but also the entire world – that we are a great people, because we did really do something no one in the world had ever managed to do before us,” Pashinyan added.