Seemingly bowing to local fierce opposition, Armenian Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan today announced that the controversial Kaghtsrashen Gravity Irrigation Project would be scrapped.

Abrahamyan made the announcement in Garni, where residents opposed to the World Bank financed project that planned to divert water from the Azat River to a number of communities in Ararat Province, had blocked the main road to Yerevan on several occasions, including today.

Recently, Garni residents threatened to shut the potable water supply to Ararat Province if the project wasn’t shelved.

The prime minister arrived in Garni accompanied by the environmental and agricultural ministers and the head of the country’s water resources committee.

At first, Abrahamyan feigned that he wasn’t aware of the issue, to which local residents shot back that the project had been discussed and debated for the past two years, during which time they had always voiced their opposition.

Perhaps caught in a lie, Abrahamyan then was seen whispering to the officials who accompanied him.

He then turned to the cameras and declared that the Kaghtsrashen Project would be shelved and construction equipment removed from the Azat River gorge.