The heads of administration in cities damaged by forest fires must resign because they have lost people’s trust, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said during a surprise visit to the Nizhni Novgorod Region on Friday.
According to the law-enforcement agencies, 505 homes have burned down in the region. The residents of the Verkhnyaya Vereya, a village that burned down, told Putin the local authorities failed to organize and coordinate fire-fighting efforts.
The prime minister said new homes for the fire victims would be built by winter. Each house will cost approximately 3 million rubles ($100,000), with 2 million rubles spent on house reconstruction and 1 million on gas, water and electricity supply.
The regional authorities must provide temporary residence, meals and clothing for people left homeless by the fires and allocate 10,000 rubles ($330) to each person to cover their expenses.
Fires are burning in many Russian regions because of a drought. The hardest hit are the Voronezh, Nizhni Novgorod, Vladimir, Ryazan and Moscow Regions.
Officials who lost people’s trust over forest fires must resign – Putin
14:23 GMT 30.07.2010 (Updated: 19:52 GMT 19.10.2022)
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The heads of administration in cities damaged by forest fires must resign because they have lost people’s trust, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said during a surprise visit to the Nizhni Novgorod Region on Friday.
According to the law-enforcement agencies, 505 homes have burned down in the region. The residents of the Verkhnyaya Vereya, a village that burned down, told Putin the local authorities failed to organize and coordinate fire-fighting efforts.