Angelov: Legal changes have significantly improved conditions at DMSH

Director of the Directorate for Protection and Rescue, Stojanche Angelov, said that some of the shortcomings identified in a report published today by the State Audit Office have been significantly alleviated thanks to legal changes in the area of crisis management.

According to Angelov, the problems cited by the State Audit Office regarding the Crisis Management, Protection and Rescue System are issues he had raised earlier, first as director of the Crisis Management Center and later as head of DMSH. He stressed that some of them have been significantly reduced following amendments and additions made last year to the Law on Crisis Management, as well as legal amendments to the Law on Protection and Rescue in June this year.

He said that the state of resources has improved considerably. For the first time in several years, the “air tractors” were serviced on time this summer and put into operation before the start of the open-space fire season.

Angelov also noted that the fleet of firefighting vehicles has gradually expanded in recent years. It also includes DMSH’s special vehicles: 23 Pinzgauers, 15 BTRs and 5 Ermines, adapted for firefighting.

Although weaknesses and shortcomings still exist, he said that Macedonia handled open-space fires this summer with the greatest success to date.