The Romanian Government is looking to endow the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations (IGSU) with EUR 600 million worth of equipment, said Prime Minister Mihai Tudose. Most of the sum should be covered by EU funds and the endowment is to be made over the next two- three years, Agerpres reported.

The issue of IGSU's endowment emerged again recently after an incident involving three Romanian military. Three soldiers lost their lives and seven others were injured after a truck they were in plunged into a ravine. The rescue operation was made difficult by the fact that the rescuers didn’t have the necessary equipment, including a helicopter that could fly at night and cranes.

“This is about applying a talk we had with the Domestic Affairs Minister, with Mr. Raed Arafat [e.n a State Secretary in the Domestic Affairs Ministry and a specialist in emergency medicine], starting from the first project, what we could do quickly, and together we reached the decision to be wise, to stop patching things up every year and making it a never ending story,” the Prime Minister explained.

He said the sum emerged as Dr. Raed Arafat outlined the ideal situation and all that is needed for an elite IGSU unit, including a firemen sea ship and a train for interventions in railway tunnels.

“After we came around from the shock of the sum we started working and, after two days, we told Dr. Raed Arafat the good news, that we found a solution,” Tudose said.

Besides the EU funding, a small part of the sum will come from the national budget. The funds will also cover the training needed for the use of the new equipment purchased.

The Prime Minister said the projects will start being rolled out within two weeks. “We can receive the money practically immediately […] Not everything the ministry wants to buy is in stock,” he explained.

editor@romania-insider.com