I'm absolutely disgusted

[axel]

Anarcho-capitalism: a promising debut

What fostered the adoption of christianism in the first centuries was the number of martyrs it produced...

Anarcho-capitalism has its own. Names such as Roman Abramovitch or Boris Berezovsky pop to mind, among others... All of them didn't find their way to promised land but part of the money did...

Have you joined Mikhaïl Khodorkovsky's committee of support?

and we - the peasents had nothing.

you mean - you - the usurers?
btw, you have a completely distorted view of monarchy.

Seriously, mouse, I agree monarchy is superior to democracy (still has its flaws). But anarcho-capitalism, that's quite something else...

[Thai-Samurai]

Corrupt mayor of Armavir

{Germany gives us money to do something good for Armenia. And this douchebag business owner/mayor decides to pocket more money by using used pipes. What an idiot, this is another Armenian who should be shot.}

http://hetq.am/eng/society/0510-pipe.html

Water Keeps Flowing Through These Pipes

What Really Happened in Armavir?

[October 31, 2005]

In June 2005 the NGO Armavir uncovered corruption in Armavir involving Legend CJSC (See also Armavir Governor Accused of Embezzlement). The organization maintains that the corruption occurred in connection with the construction and repair of Armavir's drinking water supply system, and that the drinking water now being supplied is of poor quality. They also note that the real owner of Legend is Rubik Klchatyan, mayor of the city of Armavir.

Legend CJSC, which won the $400million contract to renovate the city's drinking water system is accused of using old, used pipes which did not conform to safety standards. These pipes, obtained from suspicious sources, have been in use for one year now, and the people of Armavir have had dirty, foul-tasting water to drink as a result.

Although the pipes have only been in place for a year, they have already ruptured in several places throughout the city— near buildings at 7,9, 15, and 19 Jivani Street, 120 Sayat Nova Street and in a building at the intersection of Charents and Myasnikyan Streets.

The contract Legend was awarded for the “Construction of a Pipe System in Armavir”was funded by a loan from the German government intended to spur the development of Armenia's social infrastructure. The company won the contract even though it was known at the time that they lacked the expertise specified in the terms of the tender.

Following reports in the press, the prosecutor's officeof the Armavir Marz launched an investigation into alleged violations during the construction and repair of the pipe system. On June 15 th , Deputy Prosecutor R. Danielyan initiated a study of the reconstruction to be conducted by experts and include financial, construction, and metallurgic audits. The probe was conducted by the RA Expert Center, a government agency. Although construction, chemical, and food analyses were done, there was no inquiry into the financial details or analysis of the metallic composition of the pipe system.

This case was also investigated by the anti-corruption team of the Office of the Prosecutor General of the Republic of Armenia. In July 2005 all the files of the case were included in a criminal case connected with to violations and embezzlement in large amounts by members of the Armenian Government's Water Committee.

What did the expert probe uncover? The NGO Armavir recommended that the prosecutors take samples from the damaged parts of the pipeline. The prosecutors sent this suggestion to the RA Expert Center. In response, the center stated that samples had been taken from different parts of the city and did include material from the aforementioned damaged areas. Their statement, however, does not conform to reality. None of the eight samples given to the experts on May 8, 2005 were obtained from the damaged parts of the pipeline.

The experts found that the pipes near 11 Jivani Street, which had been installed in 2004, had internal and external corrosion, and needed to be replaced.

Three experts on the seven-member committee maintained that the corrosion could have been caused by electric interference.

All agreed that the analysis did not yield sufficient data to determine whether or not the pipes used for the renovation had already been used before. They also noted that the damage caused to pipes was a result of the chemical properties of the water and discrepancies in the water supply.

The RA Expert Center also concluded that safety standards had been met during the construction of the pipeline.

On July 10, 2005, Armavir released a report contradicting the Expert Center findings. According to Armavir's report, “The experts found that the cause of the damage to the pipes was electrical corrosion. However, most specialists agree that pipes are not vulnerable to electric corrosion, moreover, there were no conditions in the city for such type of corrosion (e.g there are no streetcars in the city, the railroad passes through the city's suburbs, the pipes are shielded and there is no stray electricity near the pipe system).”

Laboratory tests have revealed another disturbing piece of information—Armavir's drinking water does not meet safety standard. Specifically, water samples taken from School #8, the former Pioneer Palace, and several other places contained levels of the poison cadmium three to five times higher than the acceptable safety limit.

Arsen Grigoryan

See also: http://www.hetq.am/eng/society/0508-armavir.html