Today, President of Latvia Egils Levits went to Pļaviņas and Jēkabpils to discuss the response to winter floods, future crisis management and investments into physical flood protection infrastructure until October 2023 and beyond. One of topics discussed during the visit was how Jēkabpils crisis management experience could contribute to better national civil protection framework.
President of Latvia praised Raivis Ragainis, Mayor of Jēkabpils, and city council for their tireless efforts in managing the crisis as he opened the joint meeting with Jēkabpils Regional Council, experts, businesses helping mitigate consequences of floods, rescuers, National Guard and agencies of Ministry of Interior in Jēkabpils today. Egils Levits also thanked all responsible services, businesses, non-governmental organisations and people who took part in flood response operations, contributing their resources, equipment, manpower and know-how.
President focused the discussion on several strategic issues: winter flood management contingency plan for spring based on continued flood risks, additional investments into physical infrastructure for next winter and long term to avoid similar hazards in future, revision of local and national civil protection mechanisms based on experiences gained during the Jēkabpils emergency.
Members of Jēkabpils Regional Council indicated that existing procurement framework is the main obstacle for quick reinforcement of flood barrier and construction of other elements of necessary physical infrastructure by next winter. President Levits echoed the need to change legislation to ensure that works are completed in time. ‘We must put administrative requirements to the side. We must do everything it takes to protect these settlements. I will discuss the matter with Prime Minister, Interior Minister and Minister for Regional Development and Environmental Protection. We must make sure appropriate infrastructure is put in place ahead of time and there is enough funding – both the state and local governments will have to commit to that,’ President of Latvia said.
‘As we can see from Jēkabpils situation, local emergencies need to be handled by local authorities that know best what needs to be done. State agencies and services, of course, will provide the necessary support on their part,’ President of Latvia Egils Levits said after the meeting, indicating that this is the mechanism that should be integrated into national crisis management framework.
President of Latvia then went to Pļaviņas where he met with Leons Līdums, Chairman of Aizkraukle Regional Council, and Andris Ambainis, Head of Pļaviņas Administration of Aizkraukle, to discuss how Pļaviņas are managing the potential flood hazards, i.e., proactive warnings for residents, cooperation with services and planning of potential crisis response. Impact of Pļaviņas HES and response to floods was also discussed. President of Latvia intends to visit Pļaviņas HES on Monday, 23 January.
