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The inauguration of the central air base for firefighting and medical evacuation in Mostaganem is part of the national policy aimed at strengthening intervention capacities, dealing with fires and optimizing emergency relief. ’emergency. This was indicated this Saturday by Brahim Merad, Minister of the Interior, Local Authorities and Regional Planning.
During the inaugural ceremony of the air base, Mr. Merad declared that in application of the instructions of the President of the Republic, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, who attaches particular interest to the protection of forest heritage and the property of citizens, measures to anticipation has been taken this year in the area of preventing and fighting forest fires. He specified that this preparation concerned all the equipment stages which strengthen the air fleet at the country level.
With this in mind, he highlighted that five firefighting planes were recently acquired while awaiting a sixth in the coming weeks, in addition to the rental of seven Canadairs by the airline Tassili Airlines, involved in this strategy.
Accompanied by the Minister of Tourism and Crafts, Mokhtar Didouche, the Minister of the Environment and Renewable Energy, Fazia Dahleb, and the CEO of the Sonatrach Group, Rachid Hachichi, Mr. Merad followed the presentation of the results of damage recorded since the launch of the campaign to fight forest fires on 1er last May.
The areas destroyed, which amount to only 179 hectares, “testify to the performance of this anticipatory action, recalling that at the same period last year, the losses were several times higher”, estimated the Minister of Defense. ‘Interior.
It should be noted that the ministerial delegation went to Mostaganem to supervise the official launch of the summer season. The minister also received explanations on the prevention and awareness program for the dangers linked to the summer season, as well as on the composition of the operational fire-fighting system, which entered into service on 1er May 2024. According to Civil Protection, the operational system is made up of 12 AIRcraft aircraft, rented by the General Directorate of Civil Protection from the company Tassili Aviation and distributed in the airports of Mostaganem, Chlef, Béjaïa and Annaba, as well as 65 mobile convoys, in addition to 5 regional firefighting support detachments and 20,000 Civil Protection agents of different ranks.
It should be noted that the air base was received following 60 days of development work, carried out by the company Tassili Airlines (a subsidiary of Sonatrach) on a runway located in the commune of Sayada, in the deadlines. Beyond its primary function of fighting fires, the Mostaganem air base also stands out as a major asset for medical evacuation.
Last weekend, this base received a helicopter for medical evacuation to ensure rapid and secure transport of the injured to hospital structures in the wilayas in the west of the country. Keen to develop cutting-edge national expertise in the field of disaster prevention, in a second phase of this project, the company operating this installation plans to create a modern training center.
This center will be equipped with modern simulation devices, particularly after the reinforcement of the Tassili Airlines fleet by six Canadairs. This center will train highly qualified pilots and technicians, able to meet the growing challenges related to fires and emergency rescue operations.