Filenews 24 September 2021 - by Michalis Hadjivasilis
The autonomy of the Fire Brigade, which was scheduled to begin this month, will be further delayed. There have been gaps in the legislation that was passed only last May, resulting in an amendment bill being sent to parliament.
As it transpired, procedures that are already underway, such as promotions, recruitment of new firefighters and disciplinary proceedings, should be completed by the Police and not by the Fire Brigade in order to be legally correct. According to the bill on the Fire Brigade that was recently sent to parliament, there are three amendments:
- Any pending procedure for filling vacancies in the Fire Brigade, which had begun and was not completed before the entry into force of this Law, may continue and be completed on the basis of the provisions of the Police Law and the relevant Regulations issued pursuant thereto, as if this Law had not entered into force.
- Any pending procedure for the promotion of members to the Fire Brigade, which had begun and was not completed before the entry into force of this Law, may continue and be completed on the basis of the provisions of the Police Law and the relevant Regulations issued pursuant thereto, as if this Law had not entered into force.
- Any disciplinary proceedings against a member, which has begun and was not completed before the entry into force of this Law, may continue and be completed on the basis of the provisions of the Police Law and the relevant Regulations issued pursuant thereto, as if this Law had not entered into force.
After the passage of this bill, then the way will be opened for autonomy, since almost all the procedures for the Fire Brigade to enter the new era have been completed. In fact, tests were carried out and despite the initial problems that occurred, these were overcome. Problems in particular were found in the system of registration of licences but now it is working normally. Computerization issues are progressing, while the operation of a Pancyprian call control centre for fires is also being promoted. Today the Service will be visited by the Minister of Justice and the Chief of Police and one of the issues that will be examined will be autonomy.
