Rainfall situation, Rama gathers 'National Emergencies' tomorrow, Balluku: Structures are working at full capacity
Tomorrow morning, Prime Minister Edi Rama will convene the National Emergency Committee following the situation created by the rainfall across the country. The news was announced by Deputy Prime Minister Belinda Balluku, who said that work is also underway to identify the damage.
The relative improvement in the weather, said Ms. Balluku, creates the opportunity to better coordinate work based on the plan of measures that has been undertaken.
Statement to the media by the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Infrastructure and Energy, Belinda Balluku, after the meeting of the Emergency Headquarters for the Gjirokastra region:
We have just completed a meeting of the Emergency Committee for the Gjirokastra Region.
We discussed all the problems that are happening at this moment in the field. One good news that I wanted to share, which does not only concern the Gjirokastra region, but also the entire south and all the areas where the Vjosa River passes, is that compared to the level we had today at the measurement point, which is the one in Memaliaj which was 8 meters, it has now dropped to 6.5, so we have a decrease of 1.5 meters, which will also be reflected in the Novosela area at the mouth, so the area that we inspected today during the day, the Minister of Defense was there, the Minister of Agriculture, we have communicated with the entire population of the area also about the evacuation, but since we have this decrease of 1.5 meters at the measurement point in Memaliaj, this is truly good news that shows the improvement of the situation.
Here in Gjirokastra, temperatures have dropped, and a light snowfall has also begun. However, the roads are mostly open. There are several village roads that communicate with each other that are currently blocked.
The battalion deployed here, which is a new battalion, did an excellent job during the fire season last summer, but is doing the same job during this situation with increased rainfall throughout Albania, but especially here in the Gjirokastra region.
Only in the Memaliaj Fshat area are there several apartments that will be inspected at this moment by Civil Emergency forces and the Armed Forces, while on the other hand the entire situation is under control.
We have discussed with the mayors who are present, with the district head, with the prefect and all the others who were present during this meeting about some main points that should now be implemented in terms of an evacuation plan, no matter if there will be a deterioration in the weather or not, the evacuation plan should be for all municipalities present. Those municipalities that have hotel units or dormitories have it much easier to implement. All other municipalities will take measures, together with Civil Emergencies, to have gyms or other units that can accommodate in the event of an evacuation request.
However, as I said, the weather situation is improving. Of course, on Saturday we will have another deterioration of the weather, which will bring new precipitation, however, we will have 48 hours to manage the situation. Temperatures are dropping. In the meantime, we have also discussed the energy situation in this region, since this is where we have had the biggest challenge. The rest of Albania has been managed very well, while in Gjirokastra we have had interruptions in several villages or we have also had interruptions in a transmission line, which is that of Lunxhëria, which in an extraordinary cooperation, the Armed Forces, electricians and engineers of OSHEE and the Civil Emergency forces have restored energy in the Lunxhëria area, carrying out this action to reconnect the transmission.
On the other hand, all units, both local and central government, are in full coordination, as far as the national road network is concerned, measures have been taken for them. We have an area of the road from Tepelena to Gjirokastra, we had a landslide, a landslide that does not come from the road slopes, but comes from much higher up, considering that we have continuous erosion that is also due to fires. It is a conversation that we have had at the table of this Emergency Board, but it is also a plan of the Albanian Government for all those areas that have been hit by fires during the last summer to have a start of afforestation, which will be based on a well-drafted plan to stop erosion, which we have also seen during the rainfall of the last 48 hours that the impact of what has happened has really been felt.
***
Thank you very much to everyone. I would like to underline once again what the minister said. It is very important to understand that immediately after this situation passes, we, in cooperation with the local government, as one of the tasks that the local government must perform, will have an identification of the damages that have occurred due to this situation and, of course, their compensation.
The State Budget provides for a reserve fund, which is a fund that is made available in such cases. Tomorrow at 08:30 there will be a meeting of the Emergency Committee, a committee where all stakeholders participate, including ministers, deputies, mayors, prefects, it will be led by Prime Minister Rama and there will be a clear address of the plan of measures that we will have for the next 48 hours, but also of compensation.
Thank you very much everyone!
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