Enhance responsibility and effective coordination in forest fire prevention and control

On the morning of July 2, the Nghe An Provincial Military Party Committee held a conference to issue a resolution to lead the implementation of tasks for the last 6 months of 2019.

Comrade Nguyen Dac Vinh - Member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Head of the Provincial National Assembly Delegation, Secretary of the Military Party Committee of Nghe An province chaired the conference. Also attending were Comrade Thai Thanh Quy - Alternate Member of the Party Central Committee, Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee.

Conference scene. Photo: Tien Hung

Experience in forest fire fighting

The conference received many opinions and suggestions related to the drought, forest fires as well as shortcomings in fire fighting. Recalling the forest fire in Nam Kim commune (Nam Dan district) that occurred on June 30 as well as consecutive forest fires in other localities, the Provincial Party Secretary asked: Why was a command post not established to fight fires?

“In my opinion, fighting a forest fire is no different than fighting a battle. I appreciate and acknowledge the spirit and responsibility of the soldiers, but in this work, there must be a command plan and a combat plan. There must be a map of the area to develop a fire fighting and control plan,” said comrade Nguyen Dac Vinh.

Provincial Party Secretary speaks at the conference. Photo: Tien Hung

Regarding the case of Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa (55 years old, Nam Kim commune), who died during the fire fighting process, comrade Nguyen Dac Vinh said that units and localities need to soon establish forest fire fighting plans. In which, specifically assigning what tasks to people?, experienced people and armed forces? to limit risks and damage.

The Provincial Party Secretary directly visited the scene of the forest fire on June 30 in Nam Kim commune. Photo: Archive

“Losing a human life is a great pity and heartache. Not only in firefighting, but also in evacuating people must follow regulations. Like the forest fire in Nam Kim commune, the fire spread to the house but people refused to evacuate. Forest rangers had to intervene and persuade them.In this case, according to regulations, people no longer have the right to decide whether to evacuate or not. There is no need to persuade people but to bring in the police to forcibly evacuate people. As for property, the authorities will be responsible for moving it,” said the Provincial Party Secretary.

Comrade Thai Thanh Quy speaks at the conference. Photo: Tien Hung

Sharing the same opinion with the Provincial Party Secretary, comrade Thai Thanh Quy said that in the coming time, the military force needs to increase forest fire prevention and control drills.

Taking note of the opinions of the provincial leaders, Colonel Tran Van Hung - Commander of the Provincial Military Command suggested that leaders of units, especially at the district level, need to learn from experience. "The unit also regularly trains on forest fire prevention and control, but when it actually happens, learning does not go hand in hand with practice," said Colonel Hung.

Build realistic combat plans

Regarding the conference content, Senior Lieutenant Colonel Thai Duc Hanh - Political Commissar of the Provincial Military Command said that in the first 6 months of 2019, the Provincial Military Party Committee focused on leading and directing agencies and units to closely coordinate with police and border forces to grasp the local situation, promptly advise local Party committees and authorities to handle situations well, maintain political security and social order and safety in the area, create favorable conditions for economic development goals, ensure social security...

Nghe An provincial leaders directly went to the scene of the forest fire to direct. Photo: Archive

Speaking at the conference, comrade Thai Thanh Quy said that the selection and calling of young people to join the army in the past had many shortcomings and needed to be compensated. In particular, there were cases where people with suspended sentences were still selected. "Clearly, there were problems in the process of reviewing records and coordinating with local authorities. There were also problems with the medical examination and recruitment work," said the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, and suggested that this issue should be thoroughly communicated to the District Military Command.

At the same time, the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee also requested to continue to do a good job in foreign affairs and mass mobilization. Coordinate the search, excavation and collection of martyrs' remains; pay attention to the management of national defense land, review overlapping and disputed land areas, arrange reasonable budgets to invest in the construction of combat works and rear bases in defense areas; focus on developing plans for storm and flood prevention and control drills, forest fire prevention and control close to local realities, especially in districts with many forest fires, it is necessary to focus on developing plans for forest fire prevention and control drills to raise awareness, responsibility, and coordination in forest fire prevention and control...

Concluding the conference, comrade Nguyen Dac Vinh pointed out the key tasks that the provincial military forces must focus on in the last 6 months of the year, especially drought prevention as well as the approaching storm season.