Albania completely unprepared for earthquake: These are its financial and logistical resources

Being a poor country Albania has limited financial and logistical capacities to deal with natural disasters, such as recent earthquakes. The budgets for coping with emergencies are distributed to some institutions and there is no national fund dedicated to such situations in order to be used immediately. Trucks and transportation are also numbered with fingers. It is natural that a disaster of size, such as the November 26 earthquake, requires greater commitment, but our country has even previously caused weakness and lack of preparation to deal with natural disasters.

In Albania, response capacities to emergency situations are provided by various institutions, among which, as already mentioned, the main part is the contribution of Albania's Armed Forces (FASH).

According to the Centre for European Affairs and Good Security, they can be grouped into separate categories:

Evacuation:

-16 trucks (500 people/a cloud);

-17 helicopters 63 (little, medium, about 90/rjs);

- About 65 little boats.

Source:

Tent for 17 thousand people (from FAS) plus tents provided by the KKSH.

Medical evacuation:

178 ambulances (from MSH, scattered into 36 circuits, including

Hospitals, 11 of them in Tirana) plus 12 ambulances from the UN.

Food:

roasting 2 mobile units (2,400kg of bread/day);

Cook 12 mobile units (3000 rations/days)

plus 3 autocupines (900 rations/days).

Drinking Water:

7 Autobots (total 67 tonnes) and 11 pumps (total 12m3/h).

Water laundering: 2 units (6,000 liters/h).

Personal hygiene:

2 shower units (,200 days, plus station facilities that can be built outside the affected area, 72 hours after the emergency proclamation)

SAR:

6 unit 65 for earthquake, flood, fire; 2 helicopters (from FAS) for air accidents or at sea; 4 ships (from FAS) for sea accidents.

Protection/dezination:

6 units/automediates (decipher; 1 unit (25) for disinfectation.

Hospitalization:

1 field hospital (50 beds from the FAS) plus 50% of local hospital capacities (about 1,000 beds).

Transport:

90 trucks (including self-accusing, totaling 600 tonnes/rejs) from the FAS.

Fire extinguisher:

74 fire vehicles (of which 12 in Tirana) are staffed by 738 (of whom 107 in Tirana) plus 12 FAS firefighters.

Snow Cleaning

13 units (total 650 m3) and 11 bulldozers with chains (ttal 350 m3 m).

Power generator: 8 units (from FAS, total 1400 KE).

Beyond figures, the conclusion drawn by various specialists is that Albanian capacities for RRF&MC, out of quantum and quantitative terms, are non-adequates. Especially in some specific areas such as medical evacuation (autoambulance) and fire vehicles, Albania is behind in relation to other European countries comparable to size and growth levels.

Other capacity participating civil society in civilian emergencies is focused mainly on the element of disaster response.

The Albanian Red Cross (KKSH), with its nearly 900,000 members, with about 2,500 volunteers trained for disaster operations, is the largest volunteer organisation in Albania. Its structure is organised at two levels: the central level, which manages the main human and material resources and the local level (about) where 39 volunteer emergency groups have been established, each containing around 25-30 people. The KKK has established capacity to help in emergency cases 8,000 people for 30 days. In cases where his capacities will result in insufficient capacity, the DPA may issue appeals for assistance from the International Federation of the Red Cross.

DPA activities in case of emergencies focus on providing first aid, health care, hygiene issues, as well as other social problems and population awareness. The KKSH is equipped with radio communication systems and has three training centres at the local level and one at the central level. It owns a central store of materials (2,200 m2) and three others at the local level (each 300 m2).77 Other NGOs like Caritas, the Organisation “Mother Teresa”, etc., have focused mainly on providing material aid.

How financial resources are adjusted to deal with natural disasters

Financial resources based on the current Law “on civil emergencies”, the state budget is the top <x2).

There are four kinds of emergency budgets:

- Interior Ministry emergency budget,

- Local government emergency budget,

- Line ministries' relocation budget

The government's “Stock Fund”

The huge share of funds in these types of budgets is intended for preparation and post-urgent recursive measures. In the budgets of the ministries of the dedicated line for development and training, there are also funds that (at least in letters) go towards financial risks (RRF).

However, in general terms, financial resources in Albania, dedicated to The RRF is very limited, especially at the local level of power.

On the other hand, in current legislation, there is no clear definition of the size/percent of the state budget (the ministers) going for RRF&MC.

In the new Civil Emergency Law, this part has improved significantly, making clear that the line ministries and other central institutions should have a separate budget for Civil Protection at 0.3 to 1 percent of their budget.

The law also stipulates not only the need for local government to be supported by funds from the central one in case of disasters, but also the obligation of local government to use its revenues to this end.