* Photo: Hakan Firik / Anadolu Agency (AA)
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Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Bekir Pakdemirli has shared information about the vehicle inventory used in Turkey's fire-fighting efforts.
Answering the Parliamentary question of Republican People's Party (CHP) İzmir MP Atila Sertel about the number of vehicles used in fire-fighting efforts, Minister Pakdemirli has said that in 2021, 3 amphibians, 39 fire-fighting helicopters, 6 leading helicopters, 4 uncrewed aerial vehicles, 1,078 water sprinklers, 281 water-supply vehicles, 2,270 first response vehicles, 181 excavators and 501 other construction equipment were used.
According to the Minister's answer to the main opposition MP, the capacities of helicopters range from 2,500 to 10,00 liters.
Payment based on guaranteed hours of flight
In response to Atilla Sertel's question on payments based on hours of flight and guaranteed payments, Minister Pakdemirli has said:
The prices of these helicopters depend on their technical features and capacities. Guaranteed hour of flight is a widely used method in renting aerial vehicles in the world. Since the first day when helicopters and planes were rented, the method of guaranteed hour of flight has been used in our country.
Temporary workers not in permanent staff
Pakdemirli has also answered Sertel's question on "the number of forestry workers working as members of permanent and temporary staff." According to Bekir Pakdemirli, 8,582 permanent workers and 8,140 temporary workers work for the General Directorate of Forestry.
The Minister has left Sertel's question on why temporary workers are not employed as permanent staff unanswered just as he has left the question on whether there are any works to ensure this unresponded.
CHP's Atila Sertel has underlined that forestry workers should be employed as permanent staff. He has said, "In Turkey, there is money for all tenders, primarily for the big five gang. When it comes to forestry workers, there is no money, no staff... This is a great injustice."
Forest fires in Turkey
The year 2021 has been marked by major forest fires in Turkey. The forest fires that broke out in Antalya's Manavgat in the Mediterranean region on July 28, 2021 spread in the Mediterranean, Aegean, Marmara, Western Black Sea and Southeast Anatolian regions.
As of August 12, 2021, 299 forest fires had erupted in 49 of the 81 provinces in Turkey. Eight people lost their lives in fires. No data has been published as to the number of deceased animals.
As the three fire-fighting planes rented from Russia fell short of putting out the fires, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Russia, Spain, Croatia, Qatar and Iran offered personnel and vehicle support to Turkey.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry did not use the planes of the Turkish Aeronautical Association (THK), which sparked criticism.
As fires spread to residential areas, hundreds of villages and towns were evacuated, thousands were taken to somewhere safe by land and sea.
Only in Manavgat, 56,663 hectares of land were razed while this number was 12,935 in Marmaris, 11,898 in Bodrum, 1,629 in Köyceğiz and 685 in Gündoğmuş, which accounted for 83,810 hectares in total.
These fires razed an area larger than 15 percent of İstanbul's territory and the size of 118 thousand football fields.
According to the data of Turkey's Directorate General of Forestry, 68,579 fires broke out in Turkey in 1988-2019 and they razed an area of 336,824 hectares, which means that an average of 2,143 fires broke out and 10,526 hectares of land were burned every year. (HA/SD)
