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- Ελληνικά
I welcome today's event with great pleasure and satisfaction. Satisfaction because a great social alliance for the prevention of the nightmare called wildfires has been created and year by year it is expanding and strengthening even more.
We have already entered a period of high risk for wildfires and as we approach the warmer summer months this risk will increase. If we also take into account the experts' estimates that this season will be one of the hottest of all time, you understand the risk we face.
As a Government we have prepared ourselves appropriately. Both all Fire and Fire Protection Services, Fire Service and Forestry Department, as well as other services that assist in the work of firefighting and managing a fire have been properly prepared and are at maximum operational readiness.
I am particularly pleased to note that in this effort to protect the forest wealth of our country, the property of all of us and even more so human life itself, the competent state services are not alone but have the support and assistance of the entire civil society, i.e. all of you, private and state organizations, volunteers and organized groups. I thank you and congratulate you for your work and actions, especially in the area of prevention through public information and awareness-raising on fire prevention issues.
Friends,
No matter how high we have set the bar as a Government for continuous evaluation and strengthening of the entire mechanism of immediate reaction and response to the management and extinguishing of fires, both through the strengthening and upgrading of the logistical infrastructure and through the introduction of technological systems and means of surveillance, the stakes remain the same: to prevent, to the greatest extent possible, the outbreak of fires. And bearing in mind that nine out of ten fires are caused by the human factor, be it negligence, dangerous activity or, even worse, malicious action, the area of prevention through public information and awareness is even more important and this is where we have focused our efforts in recent years.
The Fire Prevention Programme 2024 with the slogan "Be a fire detector" reinforces the efforts of the Ministry of Justice and Public Order and the Fire Service to activate citizens to contribute, always in a safe way, to the fight to protect our country from the ravages of fires.
The effort of the Ministry of Justice and Public Order and the Government in general to upgrade and further strengthen the operational capacity and the degree of response of the Fire Service is continuous, as is the support and further strengthening of the existing institutions of volunteerism.
I am referring to two very important institutions that have been developed and institutionalised, whose contribution and assistance to the Fire Service and to society at large is essential, both in terms of operational issues and in promoting a sense of solidarity and increasing the level of security of the everyday life of citizens. These are the institution of "Volunteer Firefighters", which currently counts 33 volunteer firefighters, distributed in all Districts, and the institution of Organized Volunteer Groups registered in the Volunteer Groups Register of the Fire Service, including Support CY, with a total of more than 120 volunteers.
Once again, I congratulate you for your actions and for your contribution to the protection of our natural wealth and society in general, and I wish you every success in your Programme.
By the way, I would also like to wish the Support CY Volunteer Firefighting Teams good strength and invite them to always act safely under the guidance and supervision of the Fire Service Members.
Thank you.
(OP)
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