OREANDA-NEWS. January 16, 2007. The State Commission on Preparation of Events Dedicated to the 20th Anniversary of December 7, 1988 Earthquake held its second session at the Office of Government, presided at by commission chairman, RA Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan. Apart from commission members, the meeting was attended by members of parliament representing the earthquake-hit Shirak and Lori marzes.

Serzh Sargsyan mentioned that both the executive, individual members of parliament and non- governmental organizations have done a large amount of work towards the preparation of the program of actions dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the Earthquake. The Prime Minister emphasized that commission members have shown diversified approaches due to which the program was given a broader extent and higher comprehensiveness. Serzh Sargsyan stressed that activities in the disaster zone need clear scheduling in line with the financial possibilities not only for 2008, but also for the years to follow so as not to give rise to further discussions or re-scheduling in future. People should know clearly when a specific problem can be solved.

Appreciative of the draft of the jointly prepared action plan, the commission members and the MPs in attendance of the meeting made some proposals. In particular, it has been suggested to establish to task forces to deal with the preparation of anniversary actions and the design of a complex program for the rehabilitation of the disaster zone respectively.

At the end of the meeting, as recommended by Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan, the commission approved those program activities susceptible to be covered by State budget allocations. The Commission Secretariat was told to collect the proposals of all the stakeholders within a week's period in order to summarize them and endorse subsequently, as well as to carry out a more detailed examination of resource-extensive and time-consuming activities and submit them to the Secretariat before March 1, 2008.