Turkey Spent Less Than 2% Of Money Budgeted For Forest Agency To (Among Other Things) Fight Fires
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In the last two weeks, fires in Turkey have burnt more than three times the area affected in an average year, a European fire agency said. Neighbouring countries have also battled blazes fanned by heatwaves and strong winds. Turkey's state forestry agency said that in the first half, it spent less than 2% of the 200 million lira ($24 million) it had set aside this year for construction, projects and equipment used to fight forest fires.
In contrast, Portugal budgeted 224 million euros ($265 million) to prevent and combat forest fires this year, and Spain's central government budgeted 65 million euros.
While countries may measure allocations differently, opposition politicians said the data published by Turkey's General Directorate of Forestry (OGM) showed Erdogan's government disregarded a predictable danger. "The OGM budget was planned as if there wasn't going to be any fires," said Republican People's Party (CHP) deputy Murat Emir, who filed parliamentary questions to the Agriculture and Forestry Minister Bekir Pakdemirli on Tuesday. "These figures show why there has not been effective intervention against the fires," Emir said, adding the ministry had been "caught unprepared".
The ministry did not immediately respond to Reuters questions about the spending, and it was not clear if other resources were allocated for forest fire protection apart from the forestry directorate budget.
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https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/turkey-spent-only-fraction-forest-protection-budget-before-wildfires-erupted-2021-08-06/