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“The total population of Spitak town in Lori province of Armenia is 31 thousand, the majority of them are children, women and elderly people,” Norayr Muradyan, the Coordinator of the Center for Elimination of  Spitak earthquake consequences told reporters on Friday.

In Muradyan’s words most men are migrant workers yet they are ready to return once jobs are created. During the Soviet period, Spitak was known for major factories, including a sugar, elevator and clothing factory, while the unemployment rate in the town has reached extremely high levels over the past decade.  

“As an economist, I am ready to work without any payment to assist in constructing a factory in my country. For that we need just state means. I am ready to work with people, train and prepare them for job. We have destroyed our factories and put the money in international banks, and at the same time speak about the need of developing Armenia’s economy,” Muradyan said, adding he is ready to present a development programme to the Prime Minister. 

Muradyan next recalled statistics of people who are in need of housing in Spitak after the 1988 devastating earthquake. In his words, 2200 families in the town still live in temporary shelters who are the second generation of the people who lost their properties during the earthquake.