hetq investigative journalists
HY RU EN
Asset 3

Loading

 End of content No more pages to load

Your search did not match any articles

Grisha Balasanyan

Public Transport Cut to Yerevan on Opposition Rally Day

02_07-ertuxiThe opposition political alliance HAK has called for a public rally today in Yerevan and, true to form, public inter-city transport from outlying communities to the capital has been severely cut.
There is no minivan or bus service from Etchmiadzin, Ashtarak, Margara, Byurakan and a number of other towns. This morning, there were large crowds at the Etchmiadzin station waiting for some type of transport to Yerevan.Anna Karapetyan was one of those waiting in Etchmiadzin for a ride into Yerevan to take a university exam. She told a "Hetq" reporter, "I have to pay 2,000 for a taxi ride to Yerevan but I don't have that kind of money. I don't know what to do. On regular days it just cost 250 drams to go to Yerevan. People say that a rally is scheduled in Yerevan and that's why the transportation has been cut. But I'm not going to the rally. Why should I and others suffer as a result?" "Hetq's" reporters met with many others in Anna's situation who had to pay 2,000 for a taxi ride. We should point out that Republican Party of Armenia Deputy Hrant Grigoryan controls public transport from Etchmiadzin to Yerevan and owns the local "Caravan" taxi service. On days like today, he makes out like a bandit. As in the past, we got no answers why public transport wasn't up and running in Etchmiadzin. Once again, Manvel Vardanyan, Director at the Etchmiadzin Transportation Service failed to answer our phone calls. Since Hrant Grigoryan won the right to administer the local transport routes in a competitive bid, we sought some answers from the Ministry of Transportation. Susanna Tonoyan, who heads the ministry's public affairs department told us that, "We received no calls at our hot-line number regarding the matter in order that our staff go out and investigate. How am I supposed to know what's happening sitting here in this office?" We responded by saying, "If no one has contacted you before about the situation, we are telling you now. Will your inspectors follow up?" Her reply - "Yeah, most probably". We also were interested to know if the transportation ministry followed the local press since "Hetq" has covered the problem several times in the past and that the ministry never took any steps. "Of course we follow developments in the press and take corresponding action," she replied. "If that's the case how many owners of transport companies serving Yerevan have been stripped of their licenses for poor service? What's the procedure for license cancellation?" we asked. "The granting and cancellation of licenses is spelled out in the ROA Law of Licenses. Get a copy and read it," was her reply. After our visit to the ministry minivans started leaving Etchmiadzin for Yerevan. But they were empty. It seems that they were only picking up one-way passengers on the Yerevan to Etchmiadzin route.

Write a comment

Hetq does not publish comments containing offensive language or personal attacks. Please criticize content, not people. And please use "real" names, not monikers. Thanks again for following Hetq.
If you found a typo you can notify us by selecting the text area and pressing CTRL+Enter