Prime Minister Rama and Defence Minister Peleshi appraise the work done to manage the fires

Published: Wednesday, 01 September 2021 10:20

 

From Farka Air Base, Prime Minister Edi Rama and Defence Minister Niko Peleshi expressed their gratitude to all members of the Armed Forces, fire brigade, police and municipal forces, also volunteers, forest service forces and those for protected areas, who were engaged in extinguishing fires throughout the country, during August.

Prime Minister Rama thanked US and EU partners, the Netherlands, and the Czech Republic for contributing to the normalization of the situation through the Civil Protection Mechanism, in the activity, attended by the ChoD Major General Assoc. Prof. Bajram Begaj, National Civil Protection Agency Director Haki Çako; European Union Ambassador Luigi Soreca and US Deputy Ambassador Demian Smith,

 

Prime Minister Rama stressed the importance of continuing the process of modernization of Civil Protection, which has already given the first tangible results. The Prime Minister also assured that the government will do what is necessary to increase the salary for the forces that face life-threatening challenges. The head of government stressed that maximum punishment should be given to arsonists.

The Defence Minister Niko Peleshi, while expressing his condolences for the two citizens who lost their lives as a result of the fires, said: “4960 troops and 152 vehicles of the Armed Forces, 3309 troops and 113 firefighting vehicles were engaged in extinguishing the flames. 1914 local forces of all municipalities, 1400 volunteer forces, 489 State Police forces, 606 Forest Service forces, and the entire Civil Protection administration. This was the manpower and motor power of ground operations to combat 389 fires across the country in the span of two months.



"Meanwhile, for air assistance, three helicopters from the Netherlands and two from the Czech Republic joined our force. The Defence Minister emphasized the valuable support provided by the US, with experts assisting and making the operation more effective

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The Defence Minister said that the timely and heroic intervention of our forces avoided the worst, while announcing that a few days ago a model contract for the maintenance of helicopters was concluded for the first time.

The Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces, Major General Bajram Begaj said that the Armed Forces faced a fierce fight the first for 3 weeks, but managed to minimize the damage.
National Civil Protection Agency Director Haki Çako stated that as a result of the massive fires that swept across the country during July-August, 33,420 hectares of pastures, forests and bushes were damaged, as well as over 14,234 thousand olive and orchard trees. 389 fires broke out across the country.