Tsarevo mayor Marin Kirov wants the state to shift from dealing with the aftermath of natural disasters and accidents to preventing them. He made the call at a meeting of the National Association of Municipalities in the Republic of Bulgaria.
Kirov says there is no money for the urgent landslides or for the Cherna river. He urged the state to act in advance. "Does there have to be a third disaster before we get money for prevention?" he asked.
In the mayor's view, handling disasters and accidents well is not judged only by how fast officials react. The test is what was done beforehand to prevent the worst.
On 4 September we reported that Tsarevo municipality had sent documents for several projects to the Interdepartmental Commission, including engineering work on the Cherna river channel and the repair of the road to the village of Brodilovo after a landslide.
Six areas for change were put forward at the forum. They include a new funding model, a single national system for managing risk and better operational forecasting.