Karen Ghazaryan
“Radiolur”
We must look back in order to look confidently into the future. We had no disaster management system in 1988, Deputy Minister of Emergency Situations Nikolay Grigoryan told a press conference today on the 24th anniversary of the Spitak earthquake.
Our country has created a National Platforms for Disaster Risk Reduction, which is also an important achievement, he said.
“Our aim is to have a disaster-resistant country. The most important lesson we learnt from the Spitak earthquake was that a Ministry of Emergency Situations was created in Armenia,” Nikolay Grigoryan said.
The Deputy Minister said the number of disasters has increased worldwide, and even the US and Japan are unable to resist them.
“It would be incorrect to say that Armenia is fully prepared to resist any disaster, but disaster risk reduction is a priority for the country’s leadership,” he said.
Director of the National Platforms for Disaster Risk Reduction NGO Movses Poghosyan noted that “today Armenia is a rescue service exporting country.” “We must be ready for disasters today, as they always hit from the back and always unexpectedly.”
Movses Poghosyan considers that December 7 must be a day of accountability, when the result and achievements of activity of the Ministry of Emergency Situations will be presented.
