Lithuanian Interior Minister Agne Bilotaite and Ernestas Cesokas, acting head of Turto Bankas (Property Bank), agreed on Thursday that specialists will inspect buildings administered by the centralized public property management company and identify those with underground spaces where shelters could be installed.
“Turto Bankas has over 500 properties, and we agreed that within three months, specialists from our Fire and Rescue Department, together with Turto Bankas, will inspect these properties, assess their condition, and ensure that suitable properties are included in the lists and marked,” Bilotaite told reporters after the meeting.
That will allow the authorities “to move forward with the network (of shelters) and make sure that it covers as wide a territory as possible, so that people feel safer”, according to the minister.
Cesokas was quoted as saying in the Interior Ministry’s press release that Turto Bankas is “ready to cooperate”.
“The network of properties that we administer and that are potentially suitable for shelters would cover the whole of Lithuania,” the official said. “The condition of the properties varies, so the first step is to determine whether they meet the requirements.”
“When developing new projects, we will also take into account the requirement for shelters,” he added.
Turto Bankas currently has 540 buildings that will not be sold and where shelters could be installed.
“The development of the shelter network is one of the top priorities of civil protection. We are exploring all possible options to ensure the safety of the country’s population in various emergencies or during war,” Bilotaite said before the meeting.
“Together with municipalities, more than 3,000 potential shelters have already been identified. In cooperation with the Catholic Church, more than 30 shelters in religious buildings have been marked,” she said.
According to the Interior Ministry, Lithuania currently has 3,310 shelters, which could provide protection from indirect shelling in an air raid to 912,000 people, or 31 percent of the country’s population.
The ministry says one-fifth of the country’s municipalities have now reached the government’s target of providing 50 percent of the population with temporary shelter protection.
According to the Lithuanian Fire and Rescue Department, Estonia currently could provide temporary protection in shelters for 10 percent of its population, and in Latvia, the shelter process is not yet regulated at all.
Source: BNS
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