AKMC's 5th anniversary, the "new house" is inaugurated/ Vengu: National capacity

2024-12-10 18:00:00, Aktualitet CNA

AKMC's 5th anniversary, the "new house" is inaugurated/ Vengu:

The 5th anniversary of its creation finds the National Civil Defense Agency in new premises in the "Skënderbej" garrison in the capital. Minister of Defense Pirro Vengu was also present at the ceremony, accompanied by the director of this agency, Haki Çako, representatives of donor countries, as well as representatives of institutions that have a role in dealing with emergencies and disasters.

Initially, those present closely visited the National Operational Center for Civil Emergencies, where they got to know how it works. The Minister of Defense assessed as very important the establishment and modernization of this center, which he considered to be an essential link in dealing with emergencies.

"I want to thank all the staff of the Ministry of Defense, the Armed Forces who, in cooperation with the AKMC, have managed to create here a national capacity and not only a hall that serves one institution, but a hall that serves all institutions at the level of the republic, involved in coping with disasters and all the needs for search and rescue. You are in a process where in a few days it will be audited by all the relevant international regulatory bodies and the Albanian capacity for search and rescue and we are already in optimal conditions to not only implement the regulation that ICAO (International Civil Aviation Agency) has defined for these cases , but also to see in action how the capacities are built to be made available to prefectures, critical infrastructure, entities or the Air Force," he said.

Further, Minister Vengu pointed out the contribution of AKMC in dealing with disasters in recent years and requested that the role of this agency be distributed even more widely in the territory.

"I remember very well all the disasters we went through from the earthquake to today and it is good in fact that AKMC has grown through crisis management which I believe has made it an institution today, which is at the center of the Civil Protection Mechanism with all the technological instruments and now the moment has come that this exemplary hall, whether in organization or in technology, let's start why not extend it to the capacities and to those four regional units, where AKMC has personnel and we must strengthen it further personnel, even in capacities or tools and equipment so that this initiated model can be presented throughout the territory, prefectures and municipalities," said Mr. Vengu, who did not forget to thank the international donors.

AKMC Director Haki Çako added that the National Operational Center for Civil Emergencies, in addition to operating in real time with the Search and Rescue Center and all structures and institutions at the national and local level, will also host the Interministerial Committee for Civil Emergencies.

For her part, Stefania Vizzaccaro, the director of the Italian Agency for Development and Cooperation as the main financier of the establishment and modernization of the National Operational Center for Civil Emergencies, expressed her satisfaction for the realization of this project and appreciated the cooperation with the Albanian authorities.

In conclusion, Minister Vengu and the other guests visited the new premises of the National Defense Agency, met the employees and got to know their daily work./ CNA