Japan gifts two forest firefighting vehicles to Georgia’s Interior Ministry
About 752 hectares of forests were burnt in the Borjomi Gorge in total. Photo: Embassy of Japan in Georgia
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The Japanese Embassy to Georgia and international organization Mercy Corps have gifted two forest firefighting vehicles to the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Fires destroy not only the treasures of nature, but also local income and tourism...I hope this gift from the Japanese people and government will help Georgia's Emergency Service to extinguish fires in inaccessible areas before fires spread over a large area of forest and enable them to avoid causing irreparable damage”, said Tadaharu Uehara, the Ambassador of Japan to Georgia.
Forest fires have been a serious problem for Georgia over the past several years.
A massive forest fire broke out in Georgia’s Borjomi Gorge in August of 2017. Several thousand people were engaged in the firefighting operation including thousands of soldiers and Georgian, Armenian and Azerbaijani firefighters, rescuers and rangers.
Nine Georgian, Azerbaijani, Turkish and Belarus helicopters battled the blaze.
About 3.5 hectares territory were affected by fire in the Borjomi Gorge in May of 2019.
About 752 hectares of forests were burnt in the Borjomi Gorge in total. Of these, 525 hectares was the same area that was burnt during the 2008 Russia-Georgia war.
Security service head of Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park 43-year-old Ivane Kupradze has died in a forest fire today.
Georgia has hired a multifunctional helicopter Mi-8 from Belarus, which can be used against fires and in other emergency situations.
The Georgian Environment Ministry plans to design a monitoring and warning system for forest fires across Georgia that will give early notice of an impending disaster. Negotiations with foreign donors and experts have already launched.
UPDATED: It is the third day that a massive forest fire which broke out in the Borjomi Gorge is still raging in Central Georgia. The latest estimations say that tens of hectares of forestland is on fire.
A social centre for those with disabilities, located in the village of Sadmeli in the Ambrolauri municipality, will be renovated by the Japanese Embassy to Georgia as part of the GGP Grassroots Human Security Grant Program.
Strengthening bilateral relations between Georgia and Japan, and deepening cooperation in culture, economy, tourism, agriculture and education were discussed over the past week in meetings between officials of the Government of the western Georgian region of Adjara and Hideki Ishizuka, the newly appointed Japanese Ambassador to the country.
Georgia’s Economy Ministry and the Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications on Monday signed a memorandum of cooperation in information and communication, involving development of broadband internet technology in Georgia.