PRIME MINISTER OF ARMENIA: WE MUST LEARN LIVING IN CONDITIONS OF EMERGENCY SITUATIONS

ArmInfo
2009-12-14 13:25:00

ArmInfo. Nearly 80% of the housing fund in Armenia is physically
deteriorated which considerably increases the seismic risks, said
Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan at the Monday discussion on the WB
Report on seismic risks reduction in Armenia.

This means, he said, that Armenia has faced a serious problem.

Research showed that there are 25 accident-prone schools in Armenia
that need immediate reconstruction or underpinning. At the same time,
Tigran Sargsyan said, up-to-date construction opportunities and
novelties are rarely applied in Armenia. Monolithic constructions
of concrete and glass are erected in Armenia, which is less reliable
and nearly 30% more expensive, he said.

The prime ministers mentioned that 21 years have passed since the
destructive earthquake of 1988 and now all the possible risks of
natural calamities are possible in the country: earthquakes, land
slides, floods, drought and weathering. "We must learn living in
conditions of emergency situations and develop an up- to-date complex
system of risk management," Tigran Sargsyan said. He highlighted
the importance of predicting natural calamities and softening their
aftermaths.

International experts say that there are nearly 1 million children
below 18 in Armenia and it is necessary to develop a complex program
for their education and protection from natural calamities. It is
necessary to introduce a system of housing insurance to reduce possible
damage costs. Experts say that a magnitude 7-8 earthquake in Yerevan
(40% of Armenia’s population) may cause material damage twice as much
as GDP.