Çako on fires situation: Most of them are set deliberately, municipalities have to take their responsibilities

Published: Monday, 03 August 2020 15:51

The Director of the National Civil Protection Agency, Haki Çako, issued a press release following the situation created in these days by the fires in the country.

After making a summary of the number of fires and burned areas, Mr. Çako stressed that most of them started deliberately. He confirmed the readiness of the Ministry of Defense and stressed that local government have to take their responsibilities to be the first to deal with the civil emergencies.

Full statement of the Director of the National Agency for Civil Protection (NACP)

The arrival of the summer season was accompanied by a significant increase in temperatures which enhances the likelihood of forest fires, bushfires and pastures burning, etc.

The causes of the fires are of course the high temperatures but also the negligence, carelessness of the residents of the area. In many cases the fires have been deliberate. The state police is investigating them and I take this opportunity to encourage it to intensify the efforts in order to find and apprehend the perpetrators of the arson.

From January to July, 329 fires were identified out of which, only 168 fires were identified in July.

According to the reports sent by the municipalities and prefectures in NACP the most affected municipalities are: Shkodra, Fieri, Vlora, Durrësi, Gjirokastra, Lezha, Dibra, Korça, Berati, Kukësi, Tirana, dhe Elbasani. In total, 598 hectares were burned throughout Albania, including 2419 olive woods and 217 orchard woods.

Throughout this period, NACP has been and will continue to be fully prepared to provide its assistance as the central coordinating, controlling and supervising authority in the field of Civil Protection and Disaster Risk Reduction. Also, NACP in addition to coordinating and dealing with the situation created continuously, has performed the role of controller and supervisor to all the structures engaged in coping with this situation.

While some municipalities are fully engaged in dealing with fires providing vehicles and people, today, some of them are still not using the entity of the assets declared for Civil Protection issues.

It should be clear to everyone that Civil Protection is not merely an added competence to them, but an obligation and their primary responsibility, for which they should be prepared with people, vehicles, local strategies, action plans and relevant budget.

In any case of disaster, it is the municipalities themselves that have the main role and burden to guarantee the protection of human life, cattle, property, cultural heritage and the environment. The central operational structures such as the Armed Forces or the State Police go into action only when the resources at the local level are depleted.

NACP and the Ministry of Defense are continuously in contact with the local government and are following in real time the situation in each fire spot. The Armed Forces are fully prepared to respond to any deteriorating situation as they have done so far through air intervention. According to the new law "On Civil Protection", the Armed Forces are engaged in emergencies by assisting all those municipalities that have fulfilled their legal obligations to engage their capacities and be in compliance with the law on prevention and coping with arson. NACP has found out that some municipalities ask the Armed Forces to intervene without using their capacities to the fullest. This is in action which takes its financial toll several times higher than what the law provides for the local government in case of civil emergencies.

Under the new law, NACP as a coordinating structure reminds the municipalities which do not abide by the law that they will face penalties for any case they do not comply with the legal provisions on dealing with civil emergencies.

Finally, I would like to call on all local government structures to work closely with the State Police to enhance efforts in order to find the perpetrators of the deliberate fires and bring them to justice.