19.05.2014.

Defence Minister visits the affected areas

Defence Minister Bratislav Gasic have visited today several places in Serbia, to have insight into the situation on the ground in the areas that were affected by floods and determine the need for further help.

Dr Jasna Avramovic, Mayor of Smederevo, informed the Minister of Defence about the measures taken in the territory of that city. "We raised a levee at 854 centimetres. More than 40,000 bags were filled with sand, 30,000 of them was placed in the total length of 900 meters, the others were left as the reserve", the Mayor of Smederevo said.

During the visit to Smederevska Palanka, Defence Minister Bratislav Gasic said that one of the biggest problems is that the inhabitants of that city have been without drinking and technical water for five days". One of the main tasks of the army is to help solving the problems of water supply in Smederevska Palanka", Gasic said.

The Minister said that the citizens of Smederevska Palanka will be supplied from tanks of the Serbian Armed Forces, and that their number will be increased.

In Svilajnac, water is slowly retreating, and the members of the Serbian Armed Forces are helping a lot to this city. The building which is of crucial importance in Svilajnac is the thermal power plant. Ms Marija Stevanovic, Director of the Thermal Power Plant informed the minister that the water came 4 centimetres to bars and today it was for the first time that its drop of 1 cm was recorded. "We are hoping for further fall of water and stagnation", Stevanovic said.

The Minister announced the participation of the army in the restoration of the terrain, the decontamination of the flooded areas and cleaning of water supply reservoirs. He said that this job is of the utmost importance.

He told the citizens that the most reliable information is coming form the crisis response teams.

"This morning there was much of misinformation regarding the situation in Sabac, so it is necessary for citizens to be careful in order not to spread panic. Crisis response teams are linked and I kindly ask the public to contact them if they need the right information", the Minister said.