Hripsime Arakelyan: “Yerevan elderly should be Yerevan residents who love and feel Yerevan”

Hripsime Arakelyan, a candidate for Yerevan Councilor nominated for the top ten in the list of the Prosperous Armenia Party, has been a journalist for many years and has been a more manager in the theater for many years but not only keeps the connection with the journalist community but also continues writing.

She was born in 1978 in Yerevan. Graduated from the Faculty of Philology of the Armenian State Pedagogical University after Kh.Abovyan, then the Public Administration Faculty of the Armenian State Academy of Management, worked at Ar, Hay TV, Kentron, and Public Television of Armenia, headed the Public Radio of Armenia “Radiolur “News program, occupied the post of the head of the government’s information and public relations department.

The proposal to participate in the elections was received from colleagues, former and current journalists included in the PAP list. She says the offer was a surprise for her, but she agreed after a long time.

– What will be the primary problems that will be raised by the council member Hripsime Arakelyan?

These are the most important issues of our project and, I think, all our competitors have also fixed the same: transport, garbage disposal, green zones. The capital needs green buffer zones, and the issue is not gardens that are more or less well-maintained. The problem is that Yerevan has a serious need for general landscaping; it is not accidental that the number of illnesses in our country increases, and the capital is facing an environmental catastrophe. An important point in the party program is to activate the buffer zones of Yerevan in terms of activation and greening, and this should be done in a precise way, because just planting trees does not mean that it is a problem. There are special technologies and techniques that should be used as a result of discussions with experts.

– You have been the head of the media for many years and with your own experience you know how problematic the citizen-community relationship is. What should be changed to make that connection effective?

First of all, the Council of Elders should be open and transparent. We have seen what kind of people we have in the Council of Elders. Of course, there were also professionals who have done their job very well, which I appreciate very much, but specifically I have never known a great deal of council members and have not seen their activities. And this is the case when I was the head of the news outlet. In other words, this passive activity, which implies only the functions of the council, should be definitely eliminated. The elders must be a breathing organism, a transparent structure dealing with all urban problems, with which a citizen must keep his contacts and see and understand the activities of the council. It is clear that what has happened has no longer been and people who are just sitting there should not be there anymore.

– And the last question, what is Yerevan for you?

-Yerevan is everything for me. I was born in Yerevan, went to school in Yerevan, where I graduated from high schools. After all, all this has not been for a long time already, but I feel Yerevan’s breath. Maybe I’m a little subjective, but people in the council should be people who have gone through all these things, people who love Yerevan and feel Yerevan. Yes, Yerevan is for everyone and the regions and our compatriots from the provinces can and should be involved in the daily activities of the capital, but in the council, nevertheless, should be those who live in Yerevan.