Ecologists: many not admitted in Anapa and Novorossisk to Utrish hearings

On December 1-2, in Anapa and Novorossisk, public hearings were held on the ecological and economic justification of the Utrish Natural Reserve. The ecologists complain that many residents of the Territory and activists of public organizations were not admitted to the debates.

According to the defenders of the Utrish, the hearings in Anapa on December 1 were organized in such a manner that members of ecological organizations, even those who were members of the official commission, were not let into the hall; in particular, the expert of the World Wildlife Fund.

As reported by Dmitri Shevchenko, a participant of the picket in defence of Utrish in Anapa, "only the persons from a special list could get into the hall; the entrance was guarded by broad-shouldered securities in civilian clothes. They pushed aside the activists who wanted to participate in the debates and motivated their refusal by the absence of vacant seats in the room, although we could see free chairs there," he said.

The ecologists say that the local residents, present at the hall, were not aware of the point; while the officials failed to inform them about any alternative offers; "and the construction of the complex amidst the protected territory, on the lagoons, was presented as a decided matter."

On December 2, at 4:00 p.m., public hearings on the ecological and economic justification of the Reserve "Utrish" were held at the conference hall of the administration of Novorossisk. As stated by the ecologists, in Novorossisk many activists also could not get to the hearings. According to their story, militiamen stopped several dozens of city dwellers and representatives of the "greens" to the hall, where the debates took place. Under the statement of the securities and the administration, there was no room in the hall for all the comers. However, ecologists insist that it was a violation of their rights and regulations on how to hold this sort of events.

Among the people, not admitted to the hearings, there were presenters and developers of the ecological and economic justification of the reserve - senior coordinator of the regional WWF branch Roman Mnatsakanov and Suren Gazaryan from the Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus. Everything what happened at the entrance was videoed, and in the near future ecologists plan to lodge applications to the prosecutor's office, the "Yuga.Ru" reports.

Meanwhile, the representatives of Ministry for Protection of the Environment and Natural Resources told journalists that they are happy with the results of the hearings.