Trash-filled wind of Yerevan

For most residents of the republics of the former Soviet Union, Europe is a symbol of prosperity, successful solving important problems, including household issues. It is clean and well-conditioned in European cities. There are no homeless dogs, dirty porches or litter on the streets.

Dirt and litter on the streets is a sign of a country's poverty. However, the capital of not very rich Moldova is a clean city. Not very rich Georgia has also solved the problem of litter pollution. Yerevan has been trying to solve this problem for 15 years. There have been many projects for waste-processing plants. However, today we cope with the problem by means of incineration, which is environmentally unsafe.

The authorities are counting on price rises for public facilities. However, the population of Armenia is rather poor and can't afford to pay for litter.

The former mayor of Yerevan, Vaagn Hachatryan, thinks that no price rises are needed to solve the problem. First of all, a waste processing plant should be built near the Nubarashen dump. It is possible to obtain a low-interest loan from the World Currency Fund for an ecological project.

Susanna Petrosyan, Yerevan. Exclusively for VK.