23 Requests Including Construction of Forest Roads in National Parks and Expansion of Nighttime Equipment
"After experiencing this wildfire, I felt that we need to fundamentally redesign our national land safety management system."
Park Wansu, Governor of Gyeongnam Province, made this statement at the wildfire damage countermeasure party-government consultation meeting held at the National Assembly main building on the morning of the 3rd.
Park Wansu, Governor of Gyeongnam Province, is explaining proposals related to wildfire response at the ruling party-government meeting on wildfire damage countermeasures held in the National Assembly main building. Provided by Gyeongnam Province
Governor Park said, "During the recent wildfire suppression, the rugged mountainous terrain and the lack of forest roads within the national park made it difficult to deploy night firefighting teams," and added, "It is essential to establish forest roads within national parks for wildfire prevention and rapid response."
He continued, "There is no basic firefighting infrastructure such as forest roads or water tanks within the national parks," and emphasized, "There is a need to review the national park management system."
He also stressed, "With the current scale of helicopters, it will be difficult to suppress large-scale wildfires in the future, and especially during nighttime wildfires, we are virtually unable to respond," adding, "It is urgent to prepare special measures such as expanding specialized nighttime response equipment like drones and lighting towers."
Governor Park further stated, "During the wildfire suppression operation in the Gyeongnam region, four people, including public officials, lost their lives."
He added, "The specialized firefighting teams operated by local governments have poor staffing and low pay, making it difficult to operate," and requested, "Please convert the specialized firefighting teams to public service positions and provide wage support from the central government."
Park Wansu, Governor of Gyeongnam Province (fourth from the left), attended the wildfire damage countermeasure party-government consultation meeting held at the National Assembly main building. Provided by Gyeongnam Province
He also mentioned the need for institutional support for the prompt recovery and prevention of recurrence in wildfire-affected areas, urging the enactment of a related special law.
"Currently, the support fund for wildfire victims' debris removal is between 20 to 30 million KRW, but the actual cost of rebuilding a house is in the hundreds of millions," he said, "so the support criteria need to be significantly adjusted to reflect reality."
On this day, Gyeongnam Province announced six wildfire response policies through the party-government consultation meeting: ▲Prompt enactment of a (tentative) special law to support wildfire-affected areas ▲Additional housing support for wildfire victims ▲Improvement of working conditions for specialized wildfire prevention and suppression teams ▲Transfer of national park management authority (from Ministry of Environment to Korea Forest Service) ▲Establishment of forest roads in national parks for wildfire prevention and rapid response ▲Establishment of the National Southern Region Wildfire Prevention Center.
Additionally, the province proposed 17 national funding projects, including: ▲Establishment of the National Southern Region Wildfire Prevention Center ▲National funding support for expanding leased helicopters and firefighting equipment ▲Expansion of equipment for responding to large-scale disasters such as wildfires ▲Development of AI drone systems for nighttime wildfire suppression ▲Expansion of forest roads for wildfire suppression and forest management ▲Erosion control projects to prevent landslides in wildfire-affected areas ▲Restoration of forest damage from large wildfires (emergency logging support) ▲Support for improving working conditions (wages) for specialized wildfire prevention and suppression teams ▲Installation of fire extinguishing facilities in multi-use facilities adjacent to forests ▲Securing multipurpose water sources for wildfire suppression ▲Restoration, expansion, and paving of roads adjacent to wildfire-affected areas ▲Support for preventing damage to and emergency restoration of national heritage sites ▲Installation of water cannons and purchase of fire-resistant blankets for national heritage protection ▲Maintenance of steep slope collapse risk areas ▲Improvement of natural disaster risk areas ▲Comprehensive maintenance of flood-prone residential areas ▲Maintenance of disaster-risk reservoirs, etc.
Governor Park reiterated, "If the government's supplementary budget is finalized, I ask for your continued interest and cooperation so that all 17 projects necessary for wildfire prevention and recovery, including securing leased helicopters, can be reflected in the government budget."
The consultation meeting was attended by over 30 officials, including the governors and mayors of Gyeongnam, Gyeongbuk, and Ulsan, Kwon Youngse, Emergency Committee Chairman of the People Power Party, Kwon Seongdong, Floor Leader, the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, the Chief of the Korea Forest Service, and other relevant ministry officials.
It was reported that the government and ruling party participants showed generally positive responses to Gyeongnam Province's proposals.
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