Jeon Hae-cheol Urges "Thorough Pre-Preparation Including Vulnerability Monitoring and Safety Inspections Ahead of Full-Scale Monsoon"
[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] Jeon Hae-cheol, Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, held the '2021 2nd Safety Policy Coordination Committee' with the participation of heads of departments and deputy heads of 17 metropolitan cities and provinces to review the implementation status of comprehensive measures for flood and typhoon response.
According to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety on the 17th, the meeting focused on checking the implementation status of the flood and typhoon response innovation comprehensive measures established last year ahead of the full-scale rainy season, expanding indirect support for natural disaster victims, and the investment direction of the 2022 disaster safety budget for each department.
The Ministry of the Interior and Safety reported the implementation status by agency of the flood and typhoon response innovation comprehensive measures prepared jointly with related organizations in November last year. According to the Ministry's inspection, except for some tasks that were difficult to carry out due to the COVID-19 situation, most tasks are being carried out normally.
Each department is promptly advancing urgent tasks such as emergency restoration of dam and landslide damage and the introduction of a floodgate discharge notification system, and disaster prevention projects to prevent recurrence of heavy rain damage are being promoted with the goal of completion before the rainy season. Tasks that fundamentally improve the flood and typhoon response system, such as research projects to raise flood defense standards and legal amendment tasks, will be regularly checked to ensure they proceed as planned.
The government has prepared measures to expand indirect support for natural disaster victims, which will be fully applied starting from typhoon and heavy rain damage this summer. In addition to the 15 currently supported items such as tax payment deferral and communication fee reduction, 14 additional items closely related to residents' daily lives, including exemption from TV license fees and extension or deferral of vehicle inspection periods, will be supported to help victims quickly return to normal life.
Furthermore, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety will prepare a preliminary consultation plan for the 2022 disaster safety budget to enhance the investment efficiency of disaster safety projects of central administrative agencies. To this end, the Ministry analyzed the investment performance and expected future effects of about 400 disaster safety projects across 29 departments and selected key investment areas to strengthen safety investment in 2022.
At the meeting, active discussions were held on project investment priorities and ways to strengthen interdepartmental collaboration for efficient government-wide safety investment. The Ministry plans to notify the Ministry of Economy and Finance on the 29th after deliberation by the Central Safety Management Committee, reflecting the coordinated contents of interdepartmental discussions in the preliminary consultation plan for the disaster safety budget.
The Fire Agency will promote a public-private joint safety plan to ensure rapid rescue and prevent water accidents at major water recreation sites such as beaches and valleys during the summer. From June to August, the '119 Citizen Water Rescue Team,' composed of firefighters and private volunteers, will operate at major water recreation sites. This year, to prevent COVID-19 infection, guidance and instructions will be provided to visitors to comply with social distancing guidelines in daily life.
Minister Jeon Hae-cheol urged, "Please thoroughly prepare in advance, such as monitoring vulnerable factors and safety inspections, ahead of the full-scale rainy season to prevent damage like last year," and emphasized, "Please do your best to ensure that government quarantine activities have no gaps until herd immunity is reached with the smooth progress of COVID-19 vaccination."
Meanwhile, after the meeting, Minister Jeon visited the 'Sinpyeong Drainage Pump Station' in Naegok-dong, Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do, to conduct a safety inspection of disaster prevention project sites. Minister Jeon said, "Natural disasters cannot be prevented, but damage can be minimized through disaster prevention projects," and added, "Please ensure thorough safety management at ongoing projects and conduct thorough pre-inspections such as test operations so that completed pump stations can actually be operated."
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