“Representatives of 18 local self-governments are becoming pioneers in the prevention of natural hazards and creating a disaster-resistant Serbia,” said the State Secretary of the Ministry of State Administration and Local Self-Government, Maja Mačužić Puzić in Vrnjacka Banja at the signing ceremony of the Agreement on Inter-Municipal Cooperation in the West Morava Basin, and the forming of a joint service for civil protection affairs of local self-government units.
She stated that major natural disasters in this area, from earthquakes, landslides and snowfalls, to floods, have shown the importance of crisis management, but also that good preparation can reduce future risks and effectively manage emergencies. She added that this last crisis, the one caused by the pandemic, also showed that the crisis management situations and the answers to them should be in the hands of trained, professional and motivated individuals from the local self-government.
“The Republic of Serbia is trying to create a comprehensive and modern system of local prevention and disaster responses, and that it is the local self-governments that are the most important link in this case,” said Mačužić Puzić.
On this occasion, she thanked the EU and UNDP for the support they provided for improving the capacity and readiness to respond to emergencies at the national and local level through strengthening the infrastructural and human capacities. She added that the Ministry will continue to actively participate in the project “EU for Serbia Resilient to Disasters” and additionally thanked the Government of Switzerland, which helped the project of establishing inter-municipal cooperation for the West Morava River Basin with a donation within the Inter-Municipal Cooperation Fund.
“I hope that the construction of the Mora Corridor and the regulation of the Morava River will help prevent floods such as the ones that have befallen us in recent years, and that the agreement signed today will become an example of good practice for other local self-governments in Serbia,” the Ministry’s State Secretary concluded.
The cities of Kraljevo, Čačak, Kruševac, Užice, Novi Pazar and the municipalities of Vrnjačka Banja, Trstenik, Knić, Ivanjica, Arilje, Kosjerić, Gornji Milanovac, Raška, Požega, Lučani, Čajetina, Tutin and Aleksandrovac signed an Agreement on Inter-Municipal Cooperation of the West Morava Basin today, and the establishment of a joint service for civil protection affairs of local self-government units.