Putin instructs to draft presidential decree regarding flood cleanup

President Vladimir Putin gave an instruction to draft a presidential decree over the restoration works on the territories affected in the Russian Far East by August 31. “I ask the government and the presidential administration to draft a decree over the restoration works on the territories hit heavily in the flood in the Far Eastern Federal District by August 31,” he said. In his words, this document should concern the restoration works related with the energy sector, public transport, health care, agriculture, the emergency functions of the Ministry of Natural Resources and the use of capabilities of the Federal Agency for State Reserves. Putin intends to hold a meeting over the cleanup of the aftermath of a devastating flood and the development of Primorsky Territory on August 31, the Kremlin press service reported. The president also emphasized that any problems which arise during restoration efforts should be resolved locally by the territories affected, not settled through Moscow. The main criterion used to assess effectiveness of restoration efforts was how soon people were able to return to their homes or were offered new housing, when schools, hospitals and kindergartens would resume work and when sanitary security would be ensured for the settlements affected, the president said. He said it was necessary first to decide on temporary shelters for residents, possibly using school buildings, student compounds and hostels for the purpose. Solutions were needed to settle the issue of sending children from flooded zones to non-affected territories in their own region or elsewhere in the Russian Federation where they could study and rest. With a new school year just around the corner, education had to be organized quickly and free of buraucratic obstacles, the president said. Previosly Putin suggested forming a governmental committee to steamline cleanup efforts in the aftermath of Far East floods. “An emergency headquarters and a committee headed by the chief executive of a Russian federal constituent territory should be set up in each region affected by the flood,” the president said at a meeting devoted to the flood clean-up in Khabarovsk on Thursday. Putin also ordered the Investigative Committee to inspect actions of all officials during the floods.“Since independent specialists have a proper opinion regarding this, and people are saying that they doubt that all public servants, including those in charge of the hydroelectric power industry, acted in strict compliance with the instructions given to them and the effective legislation, actions of all public servants should be investigated and analyzed very attentively. I ask you to report to me about these issues,” the president said.