site.btaFirefighters Warn that Budget Cuts May Jeopardize Human Lives

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Firefighters Warn that Budget Cuts
May Jeopardize
Human Lives


Sofia, December 10 (BTA) - Proposed budget cuts in the Fire Safety and Civil Protection Directorate General may jeopardize human lives, the firefighters' trade union affiliated with the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions (CITUB) in Bulgaria said here, quoted by CITUB Monday.

The statement comes following a draft Council of Ministers' decree published last Friday which suggests cutting nearly 7 million leva from the "already scarce" budget of the directorate for 2018.

The firefighters and rescuers argue that none of the political leaderships of the Interior Ministry in the past ten years have fulfilled their legal obligation as an employer to provide health and safety at work. As a result, the majority of firefighters and rescuers are forced to use obsolete protective gear or buy new one by themselves.

The shortage of money for proper maintenance of the available equipment, including such purchased under EU programmes, creates conditions for delayed reaction in the event of incidents and thus jeopardizes human lives and poses a risk for material losses, the firefighters say.

They insist on setting up a fund for additional financing of the directorate, noting that such a practice exists in many European countries. LI/ZH
/МЙ/