YEREVAN (Armenpress)–Chief of the Armenian National Seismic Protection Agency (ANSPA) Sergey Balasanian reiterated his criticism of the June 27 government decision whereby ANSPA was incorporated in the Emergency Situations Department.
Balasanian said the decision to merge the two government-affiliated agencies was "a wrong step," which he said would lead to complete destruction of the seismic protection sector. "The decision to merge was taken by people who have no idea what seismic protection is," Balasanian said.
Combining the work of the two agencies is impossible–according to Balasanian–as the Emergency Department gets down to work after calamities occur–"while the ANSPA is designed to predict earthquakes and prevent calamities," Balasanian argued in a bid to explain why he has resigned from the post he has been holding for more than a decade.
The ANSPA was founded eleven years ago and since then has developed into an advanced agency. The ANSPA is the only such agency in the entire Caucasian region.
His resignation has not yet been approved by Armenia’s Prime Minister Andranik Margarian.