Saxony: Saxony's Ministry of the Interior clueless when it comes to fire brigade issues

Dresden (dpa / sn) - The left has accused the Ministry of the Interior of a lack of an overview of the state of the fire brigades in Saxony.

Saxony: Saxony's Ministry of the Interior clueless when it comes to fire brigade issues

Dresden (dpa / sn) - The left has accused the Ministry of the Interior of a lack of an overview of the state of the fire brigades in Saxony. "We attribute competence to the no longer entirely new Minister of the Interior, Armin Schuster, and the State Fire Director, but we are wondering how the specialist department in the Ministry of the Interior is doing," said left-wing MP Mirko Schultze on Thursday in the state parliament. His group had previously asked the state government to take stock of Saxony's fire brigades. According to Schultze, however, the answers were sparse.

According to the left-wing faction, the specialist department of the Interior Ministry led by the CDU did not answer or only partially answered 71 of 148 inquiries. From the point of view of the left, however, many of the requested figures for the inventory of the fire brigades should be available - the fire brigades would also confirm this, it said. "The department cannot excuse itself by merely exercising legal supervision," said the left-wing MP. The state government cannot shift responsibility for the nationwide fire and disaster protection organization to the municipalities. "The overview of an entire country belongs in the Ministry of the Interior and not in the district offices and town halls," emphasized Schultze.

The left-wing deputy called for more help from the Free State for Saxony's firefighters. Don't put the whole burden on the volunteers. "Of course, the first requirement for this is that the Ministry of the Interior obtains a complete picture of the situation," said Schultze. To do this, the ministry must "keep an ear close to the weirs, because the municipalities often only report affordable and not actual needs".