Filenews 28 May 2021 - by Michalis Hatzivasilis
Three agencies are conducting a race to enable the Fire Department to self-control, following the passage of the relevant law last April by the Parliament.
Yesterday a meeting was held at the Ministry of Justice under the Director-General, Louis Panagis, in the presence of the Chief of Police and the Director of the Fire Department, to decide the road map through which the self-government will take place. As stated in "F", the road will be relatively long, since until now the Fire Department has been dependent on the Police in several areas, such as computerization system, human resources management, accounting, archives and technologies. In order to cut the umbilical cord from the police, the Fire Department must acquire its own systems and manage its internal issues autonomously. On the plus side, it has so far had its own budget, independent of the police, which makes the transition smoother.
At the meeting, the Director-General of the Ministry of Justice gave instructions as things moved quickly and at the same time to be regularly informed of the progress of the work. For the purpose of speeding up the self-government of the Fire Department, a Committee was appointed by officials of both the bodies involved in order to show the needs and to meet them.
September was even set as a time horizon where the self-government will take place and the new Fire Department can take its own first steps, its director, Polis Hatzivassiliou, told "F". As he noted, an effort will be made with the opening of the new Parliament, things have gone a long way, and he explained that in order to implement the law on the self-regulation of the Agency, the Minister of Justice will have to present a proposal to the Council of Ministers which will also take the relevant decision. He did not rule out the possibility of having to pass an additional law related to the issue of self-government.
Self-government is expected to make the Fire Department more flexible and efficient as it will not need the approval of the Chief Of Police for transfers, recruitment and promotions. Police and Fire Brigade will not completely divide their streets, as police officers will be on promotion boards, and in many cases they will have to cooperate in investigating cases of malicious fires. A common course of more than 70 years cannot suddenly be erased, says Mr Papavassiliou, who notes that cooperation will always exist for the benefit of all.
