I would like to appeal to all interested parties to lobby for our affected municipalities across sectors, said Ladek-Zdroj Mayor Tomas Nowicki on TVN24's “Fakti po Faktach”, referring to the fight against the consequences of the September floods. Pavel Shimkovic, the mayor of Glucholozi, said that the “obstacle” in his city is the insufficient number of social workers.
Two months after the floods that affected the south-west of Poland, the mayors of the towns that were most affected at the time spoke on TVN24's “Facti po Factach” – Tomasz Nowicki, mayor of Ladek-Zdroj and Pawel Szymkowicz, Mayor of Glucholozi. They talked, among other things, about the procedure for submitting an application for compensation and providing benefits to the victims.
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Mayor of Ladakh-Zdroj: we had to wait for the help of damage assessment specialists
Tomas Nowicki said that in his city, the problem with paying compensation up to PLN 200,000 is the lack of damage assessment specialists. – We, the residents of the small commune of Ladek-Zdroi, do not have qualified experts who can calculate its damage. That's why we quickly asked for help from experts who came to our executive committee and could help officials to determine the damage, he explained.
The mayor added that such assistance has been received. – Specialists of engineering chambers came to us in two periods. And in a very short time – because they were here twice, once for three days and the second time for two days, they worked from morning until late at night, (…) they worked in the field. Nowitzki continued.
Ladek-Zdroj after the flood. Photo from September 25, TVN24
The mayor of Ladek-Zdroj appeals: do not forget us
– I would also like to appeal to all interested parties, to all parliamentarians, to do some kind of inter-departmental lobbying for our affected cities. I think it's a good time to create an association of flood-affected municipalities, because we fear that after some time the interest in our regions will disappear, – said the mayor of Ladek-Zdroj. “This will be a very difficult period for us,” he added.
– We would like this interest to continue, to invest here, not only to deal with the current consequences of the flood, to try to rebuild the infrastructure or individual houses, (…) and not to forget. about us – he continued.
– Even if funds of up to 200,000 PLN are paid, even if there are targeted development grants, to our municipalities as a priority in the creation of policies in the coming years or systemic solutions that we can continue to use, – he added.
Mayor of Glucholazy: the problem is the lack of manpower
Pavel Šimković said that in the case of the Glucholaz district he manages, the “number one goal” when dealing with the consequences of the floods is the payment of benefits.
– The shortcoming that we face in the Glucholazy executive committee when giving these big benefits is the lack of workers. Please remember that community interviews and subsequent decision-making can only be carried out by a social worker. We have more than forty administrative staff and only twelve social workers in OPS (Social Welfare Center – ed.), he continued.
– We have been receiving support from social welfare centers in Opole Voivodeship for several days. Of course, from these communes, which are located a little further, because my neighbors have the same problems as me. I have good news for the residents of Glucholazy commune – the first people arrived from Sopot this evening, tomorrow we will receive workers from Gdynia, – said the mayor of Glucholazy. He added that these employees will help fill out applications and assess the damage.
Mayor Glucholazi: the problem is the lack of workers TVN24
Main photo source: TVN24
