Jansa Says Post-Storm Repairs in Kamnik Quick and Successful
Prime Minister Janez Jansa and Kamnik Mayor Anton Smolnikar visited on Thursday the village of Gozd near Kamnik, which has been devastated in a recent storm that left over 100 buildings damaged and bill of EUR 4m. Jansa was happy that the first phase of repairs had been quick and successful.
Jansa said after the visit that the first phase had shown good organisation and solidarity of people. "According to the latest estimates, we can say that the damage was immense. Solidarity aid will suffice for the first phase, but the actual reconstruction will require additional funds," Jansa said.
Out of the total damage, houses have sustained EUR 2m of damages and the same amount will be needed for repair works on commercial buildings. The storm also left the local primary school with EUR 350,000 in damages.
A municipal commission tasked with assessing the damage will soon prepare first estimates on the basis of which urgent aid will be distributed to individuals.
According to Smolnikar, the municipality of Kamnik will give EUR 20,000 from the budget reserves directly to farmers who have to repair their farms. So far we have been saving houses, and now we have to take care of other facilities, he said.
Smolnikar added that the problem will be estimating the damage sustained by farmers who depend on forests. "This is the issue the municipality has to deal with separately," he said.
The prime minister meanwhile announced that the government would discuss in the first half of August a summary report on disaster relief regarding the storm and possible additional funding from the budget reserves.
Asked if Slovenia would ask for aid from the European Solidarity Fund, Jansa said that the damage estimates were not final, and that Slovenia will certainly take advantage of this possibility if the figure reaches the required limit.
Every EU country can apply for the funds providing that the damage exceeds a certain threshold. For Slovenia, the lower limit stands at EUR 164m.
More articles from this issue:
Archive
|