By Vladimir Samsonov
Implementation of the project will include the development of the system on protection of the population and environment in frontier areas of the Belovezhskaya Pushcha and the improvement of the level of preparation of fire-fighting units in the Grodno and Brest Regions. The project is also aimed at the development of co-operation of the rescue agencies of Poland and Belarus.
Under the project, the recipients of the international technical help will be two Belarusian regional departments and an association of local governments, Euroregion Belovezhskaya Pushcha, of Poland. The total budget of the project is more than 4 million Euros, the budget of the Belarusian part, is about 2m Euros, including 1.5m Euros which will be received under the grant of the European Union. The project should be implemented by the end of June, 2015.
During the project’s preparation, it was revealed that in the case of forest fires, the equipment status of the fire and rescue services was inadequate for effective reaction to the occurrence of emergency situations in Belovezhskaya Pushcha. It is necessary to raise the level of environmental protection of the unique woodland and also the level of interaction of the Belarusian and Polish rescue departments in the frontier territories. It is planned to acquire three modern fire-rescue vehicles for the Brest department and four for the Grodno department and four complete sets of rescue equipment, fire-rescue vehicles and boats for the Polish rescue services. Training courses will be organised for employees of the relevant departments of both countries.
