Support for the victims of last week’s earthquake in Italy

Showing solidarity with the victims of the earthquake that hit Italy last week, the Romanian PM Dacian Cioloş and the Labor Minister, Dragoş Pîslaru, went to the affected area, to support the Romanian community there.

Corina Cristea, 30.08.2016, 13:28

The agenda of the Romanian PMs visit to Italy includes meetings with the Romanian citizens who were wounded in the quake and with the Romanian families taking shelter in makeshift camps in the Amatrice area. The Romanian official will also attend, alongside the Italian President Sergio Mattarella and the PM Matteo Renzi, the state funerals organized in Italy in memory of the earthquake victims.

The Romanian Government will help the Romanian citizens in Italy affected by last Wednesdays quake. The executive approved, in an emergency meeting, a first financial aid package announced by the PM Cioloş:

“We grant emergency aid for the relatives of the people killed in the quake. We will also support the relatives of those Romanians who go to Italy to help the people affected by the catastrophe. We have thought of specific aid for the children left without parents. The Romanian minister delegate for the relation with the Romanians Worldwide, Maria Ligor, is already in Italy. She has met with the hospitalized Romanians and with the representatives of the local authorities.

The orphaned Romanian children will receive 6,000 Euros. The families of the victims will be granted 1,000 Euros while the families whose houses were destroyed to an extent of more than 50% will receive 10,000 Euros. Also 1,000 Euros will go to those who go to Italy to help the surviving members of the affected families. According to the authorities, aid is granted upon request. The people entitled to receiving aid will have to file a request with the Romanian diplomatic and consular missions in Italy and with the county payment and social inspection agencies in Romania, respectively.

PM Cioloş also intends to make an analysis of Romanias reaction capacity in case of a similar earthquake. He asked the authorities to draft a document in this regard, in two weeks time. The issue of consolidating the dangerous or unsafe buildings in Romania, most of which are located in downtown Bucharest, has been frequently approached by the media. These buildings were erected tens of years ago according to norms that are no longer compatible with the seismic situation of the area. The authorities admit that the issue of consolidating dangerous buildings in Romania has been protracted for years. The situation is due, to a large extent, to the owners reticence to temporarily leave their homes to allow for consolidation works.

The Government is considering draft laws meant to change this situation. For the time being, the Government has modified the organization regulations of the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations and has set up 4 new structures with prerogatives in training the operative personnel and preparing the population for emergency situations.

(Translated by L. Simion)