Government decision on the establishment of the Civil Protection System is approved, Peleshi: investment of 30 million Eur on emergency logistics

Published: Monday, 19 December 2022 15:18

Today the government approved the intergovernmental agreement with the Republic of Italy for the establishment of the Civil Protection System. Defense Minister Niko Peleshi stated at the end of the meeting that this is a commitment of Italy from the time of the November 26th, 2019 Earthquake’s Donors Conference, assuring to support the Civil Protection System of Albania with foreign funding of 30 million euros.

"The loan is for the support of the Civil Protection System, which is under the National Agency of Civil Protection (NACP), Ministry of Defense (MoD). It doesn’t belong to an institution, but is extended to the entire territory and in all levels, starting from the local level, municipalities and prefectures. So, almost the entire system is positively affected, and receives financing from this loan of 30 million euros", - explained the Defense Minister, according to which the agreement will go to the Parliament for ratification and then it will be active

According to Minister Peleshi, the plan envisages the construction of a well-equipped, EU -standard technology center within NACP: "At the same time, in all the prefectures and in the four centers of the NACP in the territory, interactive operational structures equipped and connected to each other with a network will be built. Operational Search and Rescue (SAR) structures, supplied with both, equipment and training will be built near the Civil Protection Centers. There will be territorial extension in four centers across Albania, but also all the equipment in case of natural disasters., It is expected the purchase of firefighting vehicles and other ones, for all municipalities, firefighting structures at the national level, as well as all logistics for floods and SAR, in general", - said Peleshi.

Part of this investment is also the purchase of two specific aerial vehicles for fires."Also, a training camp will be set up for firefighters and all operational structures that need to be trained, including volunteers, the State Police and the Armed Forces. This training center will also be equipped with simulation laboratories, so, with this funding, we will bring the entire Civil Protection System to a high level. I hope we shall pass it in the Parliament as soon as possible. It has already become a tradition that international agreements are voted in unison and there is no doubt that soon this agreement will be approved and activated immediately", - said Minister Peleshi.
Asked by the media, after the government meeting, Defense Minister also spoke about the discussions with the NATO Supreme Commander in Europe for the construction of a military base in a part of the new commercial port of Porto Romano. Peleshi said that it could be built according to the model of the NATO Air Base in Kuçova.

"One of the points of discussion was the possibility of NATO support for the military port near the new port of Porto Romano. This is an important news for Albania. As NATO's Supreme Commander said a year ago, when he was here in Albania, Durrës as an entry point to the Western Balkans and NATO's eastern wing is important for NATO. What we are offering to NATO is that this entry must be according to NATO’s standards and design. In addition to consultations, we are also working on financing. There are several options for financing, there is a bureaucracy that cannot be avoided, but this method of financing has also been discussed by NATO structures. We have a similar model which is the Kuçova Base. It is moving at a fast pace. It has been a point of discussion, an additional investment to build the air traffic control center there, in Kuçova, which could cost another 20 thousand euros. I hope it will be approved. As on that model we can proceed with Porto Romano", - explained minister PeleshiA