The prime minister has critisised civil servants for allowing the spread of wildfires near Chita.
During a video conference held at the Government House, prime minister Vladimir Putin ordered to provide immediate assistance to the victims of the wildfires in the Trans-Baikal Territory and to make sure that nothing of this sort is ever repeated.
Governor of the Trans-Baikal Territory Ravil Geniatulin, believes that the situation can be rectified, even in the village of Onon-Baza, where 20 houses were destroyed by fire and 65 people evacuated. The fire has been extinguished and another village has been saved, said the governor.
A relief fund and clothes collection round has been set up and local government has allocated 10,000 roubles per capita for the victims' basic needs. The houses will be restored by the start of the heating season, assured Geniatulin.
However, Putin was not satisfied by this report. He demanded an answer as to why the fire had got so close to the village and who was responsible for checking on the situation. Geniatulin answered that wildfires had been caused by humans and that they were looking for the people in question.
Vladimir Putin was not happy with that answer either. In fact, his question had been “which services were in charge of monitoring the fire’s spread?” The fire started after dark and as the wind was very strong, it was difficult to locate it, said Vladimir Svitelsky, head of the Siberian regional branch of the Emergencies Ministry, in support of the Governor. We have identified several villages that may be affected by the fire and have placed local fire fighters on duty in each one, said Svitelsky.
"Let’s hope that all that you do will work in other places. But this village burned down! How do your arrangements work? I just don’t get it," retorted Putin. Having listened to the local Interior Ministry Directorate, the prime minister expressed hope, that "the law enforcement agencies, both local and federal, will continue their work in a calm and professional manner and make sure that nothing like this ever happens again." He also ordered that the victims should be offered immediate help and be reissued their IDs without delay.
After reviewing the Trans-Baikal Territory issues, Putin moved on to a more positive subject - he congratulated everyone on the completion of the new bridge over the Eastern Bosporus Strait to Russky Island.
"There is no doubt that this bridge will become one of the new symbols of Russia," said Putin, giving the green light to the final welding job. Putin confessed his eagerness to drive over the bridge as soon as possible. However the project must first be completed in full— everything must be properly set up and tested to the highest standard.
Those who are keen to continue their work in the Far East will be employed in a new project - the construction of the new Vostochny national space centre.
Apropos.
A new concept for the development of e-democracy in the Russian Federation until 2020 has been posted on the Unified e-democracy portal, launched by the Ministry of Communications and Mass Media. Over the next 30 days, Russian citizens will be able to take part in discussions on this proposal..
Kira Latukhina