Progressive Party’s faction has submitted for the upcoming 31st of January budget discussion meeting of Riga City Council proposals to remake apartment homes’ and municipal buildings’ cellars into secure bomb shelter needs.
The political party mentions in its statement that, considering the ongoing conflicts around the world and security risks, bomb shelters provide residents a sense of safety in crisis situations, such as air attacks or other dangerous situations. “Civil protection is the responsibility of the municipality. Ukraine’s experience shows that a crisis can come unexpectedly. The knowledge that there is a secure shelter nearby increases residents’ sense of safety and helps save lives.”
“Riga City Council has underlined security as one of the budget priorities. However, only 0.03% of the entire budget is planned to be provided to various civil protection activities. Once a crisis comes, we won’t have time to look for excuses why there is a shortage of shelters in Riga. Riga should take the initiative and address this issue on its own,” comments Progressive Party’s faction leader Mārtiņš Kossovičs.
The party stresses that cellars of many buildings are difficult to access and are unsuitable for times of crisis,
“which is why we invite authorities to commence a programme to adapt apartment homes’ cellars for civil protection needs. Having such a municipal co-financing programme would be the first step towards resolving the problem.”
At the same time, the municipality has identified multiple buildings – healthcare institutions, commercial warehouses and other buildings with underground premises appropriate to be made into bomb shelters. However, this year’s budget does not provide sufficient resources to address this problem, the party mentions.
In the 2024 Riga municipal budget the funding outlined for civil protection purposes is only EUR 462 000. Progressives invite tripling this funding: giving an additional EUR 400 000 towards the residential cellar renovation programme and giving EUR 400 000 towards the adaptation of municipal buildings for bomb shelter needs.
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