2012-01-19, 13:56
Russian government does not concern itself with safety
© Voanews.com photo
Instead of holiday greetings, Russian sailors have prepared a special request to the government asking for sea rescue system. Across the country, the rescue services are using only 12 old trucks. Russia does not have a single helicopter for saving people in the sea. Within 20 years, Russia has not created an effective sea rescue service. Formally, there is a public company Gosmospassluzba, which is under the Ministry of Transport. It is unclear how the funds allocated for rescuing are used. Meantime, there are no facilities to rescue people in the seas. Such thoughts were also encouraged by the accident in oil platform Kolskaja. When people needed to be saving, there were no helicopters.
It is also unclear which institution is responsible for saving people. The Ministry of Transport does not want to take such a responsibility. The funds allocated for rescue services have disappeared. It is said that for the money allocated, five new rescue vessels are being built. However, there are new claims saying that building of such ships in the Russian shipyards will cost more than buying them abroad.
The so-called Ministry of Special Affairs which should take responsibility for rescue services is rumored to be a governess in Kremlin. At the same, other Russian territories are equipped with Soviet rescuing equipment. Seamen require from the government for Russia to create new rescue service with a solid base. They also ask to transfer this responsibility away from the Ministry of Special Affairs.
