[Translation prepared by Business & Human Rights Resource Centre]

Kajaran in a cloud of toxic dust: working conditions of the largest taxpayer (Exclusive shots), 1 June 2022

...The main object of air pollution in Kajaran and surrounding areas is ZCMC. The dust load on the city increases together with the expansion of the plant's production capacity...

The crew of the «Fact Check Platform» («Платформы проверки фактов») recorded the process of blasting at the mine...A few minutes after the explosion, the city is completely covered in a cloud of dust, since the plant is located directly within the administrative boundaries of the city, and a busy residential area is separated from the explosion site by a maximum of 1-2 kilometers. If the wind blows in the opposite direction, the dust goes towards the village. According to ZCMC employee Gevork Manukyan, this is the picture here every day․ Almost every day blasting work is carried out at the mine, and during wind and rainfall, wastewater flows into the city and pollutes the Voghji River...

According to Gevork Manukyan, the health status of employees is periodically assessed, but the examinations carried out do not show the real picture of the diseases of Kajaran residents.

“The person here doesn’t even realise that they are sick. Dedicating themselves to the plant, they only manage to work day and night in shifts. There are people who hide the fact that they are sick, while others find out about the disease when the knife reaches the bone,” says Gevork...

Karen Galstyan, who until recently served as chairman of the plant's trade union, notes that he periodically received requests from residents, which mainly concerned health problems...According to the former head of the trade union, he tried to raise issues of the rights and health of employees with the management of the plant, but in the end he was relieved of his position according to his own statement...

To say that working conditions are far from meeting modern requirements is to say nothing.

The plant does not comply with safety rules and sanitary standards. Employees do not wear protective helmets or respirators. They eat in a house located next to the building. All the windows of the workshop are broken. On the one hand, this can reduce the amount of toxic dust on the territory, but cross-winds, in turn, affect the health of employees...

Our drone video shows how the Voghji River, which should have been fuller after the spring snowmelt, actually dries up after the plant draws water...