Civil protection volunteer corps to be formed

The Civil Protection Department is planning to form a volunteer corps which will be trained to offer assistance in emergencies, Home Affairs Minister Tonio Borg said yesterday.

He said the department was formed in the year 2000 and had drawn up contingency plans to cover floods, major fires and an explosion at the gas plant.

The drafting of a contingency plan in case of an earthquake or other natural disasters is in the final stages of preparation and will be considered by the department's scientific committee and then approved by its council.

The department is also awaiting the final report of the world conference on natural disasters, currently meeting in Japan.

Dr Borg said in reply to a parliamentary question by Joseph Cuschieri (MLP) that the department had been very active in the training of its personnel . Two of its officers had been in Italy for training on dealing with earthquakes while another followed crisis management training in the UK.

In 2003 the government, through the Civil Protection Department, joined the EU's Civil Protection Mechanism whereby European countries provided immediate assistance whenever it was needed. That ensured that should there be a major emergency, Malta would be able to request any form of help and this would be provided relatively quickly.

The Civil Protection Department had also made sure that it had available the material it would need in emergencies such as beds, blankets, clothing and water.