A video was added to the text.
*** 17:41
“As you know that fires break out in mountainous districts of Azerbaijan in summer, especially in forest areas, harvested and unharvested grain fields. Unlike previous years and last summer, there were a few more fires broke out this year. We have now viewed the mountainous areas of the village of Abrikh in the Gabala region, we observed this place both from the ground and from a helicopter. Indeed, characteristically, it is similar to natural fires, but facts of committing fire not excepted, there are,” said Minister of Emergency Situations of Azerbaijan, Colonel-General Kamaladdin Heydarov after visiting the mountainous area with a complex relief near the villages of Solguja and Abrikh, Gabala region where a fire broke out, APA reports.
The Minister noted that law enforcement bodies will investigate this issue: “They have investigated before, such facts are observed. There are either due to carelessness or cases of intentionally committing fire. Those, probably, will be investigated. However, I think that no one’s conscience and fairness should accept committing such events in this beautiful nature of Azerbaijan. This is a blessing that our ancestors have protected for years and hundreds of years and given to us. Therefore, it should be protected. The people themselves, the shepherds there, the people picking the berries, the villagers - everyone who uses nature must protect it, not just resort to such evil deeds. The villagers themselves say that if one person commits an act, it is in the name of the whole village, in the name of the village community.
Therefore, the people themselves should not allow anyone from that village to take such a step. Public condemnation is necessary. Lack of public condemnation and punishment leads to the increase of such cases.”
K. Heydarov noted that they daily received information from the area: “You also know from media, our three helicopters are working in this zone. Probably, current fires will be extinguished during today. But it does not mean we should be relaxed. Summer is hot still, the factors, which I mentioned earlier, still exist. That is why, public, law-enforcement bodies, other bodies, and ecological employees should seriously be engaged with the issue. Because the resource belongs to the whole Azerbaijani people. As if Gabala, Oghuz, Shaki, Balakan, other mountainous forest areas are Azerbaijan’s sources of oxygen, Azerbaijan’s lungs. That is why, I think, none of the citizens should accept a negligent approach to them. Every citizen must inform law-enforcement bodies, other control bodies on such cases. Maybe a citizen takes such an action, well, but how does their accept public censure? Do their children, their family accept it? That is why all of us should be attentive to these issues. Protection of Azerbaijan’s natural resources is the duty of all Azerbaijanis.”
Minister said that the work of firefighters is extinguishing the fire after it occurs: “Fire control bodies also send relevant warnings. But in any case public, village population, citizens, using these natural resources, should not despise it, should protect it, support those, who protect it, deliver necessary information relevantly. There should be public censure, at least. How do persons, who take such action, get into the village, how do they look at faces of their families?! Do they do great heroism in this way? On contrary, they betray to state, people, nature. That is why these issues should very seriously be reviewed in the future. Such forest areas appeared over hundreds of years. Setting it on fire within 5 minutes… I can not call it in another way. It is nothing, but a betrayal to his state, people, and nation. How can the destruction of resource, created by our generations, fathers, nature along years, be called in another way?”
The minister of Emergency Situations has noted that media has an important role to play in this regard: “Thanks that the media highlights this. But propaganda works should be carried out on the televisions, media, people should be educated. Ministry of Emergency Situations set by President Ilham Aliyev has power and force in order to respond to all of these events. But, would not that be to use this power and force elsewhere? It seems that they will burn, destroy, and MES employees will go and rescue them from this trouble? No! These forces have been established in order to react when any natural and technogenic incidents happen. Or how true it is that someone burns the forest for some reason? I reiterate, how such a person appears in public, looks at family members. Public reproach should come first here. This reproach is firstly formed by the press bodies. These are absolutely unacceptable. I ask to conduct serious work on this issue in the press, televisions, sites. Because, the benefit that nature gives to humans, the human body is for all of us, not only for those who live in that village, region. That is why I ask to approach this issue attentively.
K. Heydarov has delivered to the attention that natural disasters happen everywhere in the world: “There are forest fires, floods all over the world. These are natural disasters. When the Ministry of Emergency Situations was established, President, Supreme Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev set important tasks before us. We always guide with the words of our national leader Heydar Aliyev: “It is easier to prevent an incident from the beginning than eliminating it after the incident happens”. We try, our oversight bodies do this, this is all the provisions of the Charter on our ministry approved by the President. There have been unprecedented fires in Turkey recently. On the instruction of the Azerbaijani President, our bodies have also participated in extinguishing the fire and we showed our help and support to the brotherly Turkish people".
Such fires occur in all places of the world. Wild fires in Russia, thousands, hundred thousands hectares of forests are burning. There are also problems in Azerbaijan arising from climate change. Fires may occur in forests from heated stumps. Moreover, people sometimes set fire in the mowed areas. They do very big mistake, they harm both ecology and soil. They should not set fire, they must plow and do other agro-technical work.
We have fire protection organizations, in addition special risk agencies, aviation team, aircraft and helicopters in order to prevent fires. These are all for preventing such accidents. However, people should protect natural resources just as how they protect their houses, properties, because natural resources also belong them.
K. Heydarov noted that in order to fight such cases there are Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, Ministry of Emergency Situations, and their organizations: “These agencies are seriously dealing with the mentioned issues. There are state agencies in this regard, new programs are being developed. These programs are not only for forests. You know that water shortage in the country is also noticeable. We should start carry out programs against water shortage. While observing with helicopter we saw that how much the level of our rivers has fallen, It is a natural case. However we should start to implement programs against water shortage. We should also carry out new state programs. We should do much work for accumulation of water in winter, their use in spring and summer for both drinking and irrigation. There is also an instruction of the President regarding eliminating water problem. The state and separate ministries, their agencies are dealing with this issue. As these programs are carried out, problems will also be eliminated.”
Follow us on Telegram
t.me/apanewsaz
Follow us on Instagram
Follow us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
