Sutaj Estok: Crisis Management Needs Reform, New Unit to Be Created

Bratislava, 19 May (TASR) - The crisis management of the state needs to be reformed, Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok (Voice-SD) told a press conference on Monday, adding that a crisis management unit will be created at the Interior Ministry that will be at the level of the police or fire corps. The ministry is also preparing legislative changes and wants to prepare a plan for reconstructing civil defence shelters and constructing new ones. "The structure of the unit will be based on a central headquarters, and then there will be strong regional structures that will not only monitor threats but also propose measures, as I have already clearly said. These will be large regional centres. Today the system is set up in such a way that the crisis management system is primarily in district offices," said Sutaj Estok. The ministry is also preparing amendments to several laws to enable the reform to take place. The ministry plans to present the legislative proposals later this year. The minister pointed out that there are 1,530 civil protection shelters registered in Slovakia, which can provide protection to approximately 4 percent of the population. The idea of head of the Interior Ministry's crisis management section Ervin Erdelyi is to increase the number of places in shelters to 8 percent of the population within five years, while the figure could reach 30 percent by 2035-2040. am/df