The civil defence will assume an “upgraded role” as part of the government’s reforms of its crisis management framework and the planned creation of a national civil protection mechanism, presidential crisis management advisor George Boustras said on Thursday.

Speaking to television channel Alpha, he explained that under the planned reforms, the civil defence will see its staffing levels boosted and will become in and of itself a civil protection force “in terms of its responsibilities and capabilities, as is the case in the rest of Europe”.

“We want two things; one is to strengthen firefighting capacity, so everyone goes under the same umbrella. Secondly, we want to see the whole picture. So that’s why civil protection is being strengthened,” he said

Firefighting and the general response to fires is the most salient aspect of the civil defence’s role at present, in light of the wildfire which tore through the Limassol district and killed two people in July.

With this in mind, Boustras said that “we saw this year, especially during the summer, what is happening not only in our country but also in the wider region”, and that outside of the region “; Europe as a whole faced a very difficult summer due to the fires”.

“We have to reassess everything we had planned so far,” he added, emphasising the importance of strengthening civil defence to manage crises and natural disasters more effectively.

He acknowledged complaints about coordination, availability, and the number of forces, many of which, he admitted, are justified.

“That is why the state is responding with reform by essentially transferring services to strengthen the state’s firefighting capacity,” he explained.

As such, he said the civil protection force will have an increased firefighting capacity and a new organisational structure covering the entire disaster management response mechanism, from prevention and suppression to restoration.

In this context, the government is modernising services and has requested technical assistance from the European Commission.

“Technical assistance comes from the European Union through international organisations and various services, which come and advise based on international practice. They work with state officials to propose a solution that would be tailored to our own needs.”

Meanwhile, the fire brigade and the forestry department are being transferred to the control of the interior ministry, which on Wednesday was officially renamed as the interior and civil protection ministry.

On this matter, Boustras made reference to the creation of the role of a “national coordinator”, who will oversee the various disaster management services controlled by the interior ministry, saying that it should have a dual function: both bureaucratic oversight and operational responsibility.

He added that a bill to formalise these changes is nearing completion and will soon be submitted to parliament.

“There should be a national understanding regardless of government, regardless of parties, so that we can reach a solution that will be acceptable to everyone and that there is a mechanism. We did not have the mechanism. It is the moment when we must move towards the creation of a holistic mechanism that looks from prevention to recovery.”