Intercommunity disagreement or disclosed reality.
The problem has a 3 years’ history. The point is that Gai community’s 350 hectares of land, which has been granted to Gai people as a private property, was transferred to the neighboring Haykashen community 3 years ago. The owners got aware of it after receiving a notification of land tax debt from Haykashen community council.
Meanwhile, the owners have paid land taxes to Gai community council, and in 2012 December, they were informed that the neighboring Haykashen community owned the privatized lands.
The fact that the majority of those land owners has no tax debt is approved of the Gai community council, but Haykashen community council states the opposite. The two communities, for some reason, have remained silent on the decision of the lands belonging and thrown the residents into confusion. Let us mention that the certificate of ownership says that the land continues to remain as Gai community’s property. Therefore, the logic is that farmers have to pay their land tax to Gai community council.
While the two communities’ governors are silent and putting forward their interests, it appears that due to the 2005 Government decision, the plots, which are separated from the community lands and adjacent to another community lands, must be joined to these communities. In this case the plot was bordered Haykashen community.
Now the questions arise like why the two communities governors were silent if they knew about the above mentioned government decision 3 years ago, why Gai community council exacted land tax from residents when the lands had already belonged to Haykashen community, why Haykashen community council has not informed the owners of the land belonging to the community that the land tax must be paid to Haykashen community council, no one or two communities say anything or the answer is not certain. For example, Gai deputy governor argues that they have no idea about the decision, and Haykashen governor, who, by the way, is the former governor and father of the current one, assures that he is the governor and they are just waiting that one day the owners may pay.
So the two governors do nothing but using the owners who have found themselves in a desperate situation. Why desperate because Gai community council has already used the land tax and has no chance to transfer it to Haykashen community council. And the latter uses the fact as to the owner is in debt, so they demand the money from them. Though Bagrat Hovhannisyan who presents himself as a Haykashen community governor claims he isn’t pleased with the news of that decision.
Let us note that 350 hectares of land was removed from Gai balance in 2009, but whether the community council was not aware. It’s incredible, but yet a fact. Gai deputy governor, Khurshud Kocharyan, insists that they are not aware.
Legally it is a closed circuit, the farmers paid to one community, that had no right to collect the amount, and the debts were accumulated in another community that could inform the villagers about the land tax 3 years ago. Villagers find themselves in a dizzy situation.