At least 600-700 new hires are needed within 4 years to address the scourge of fires, which devastates the Sardinian countryside year after year .
This is the main request of the Forestry Corps unions Safor, Fesal, and Uil, who met with President Todde to request a "structured, multi-year hiring plan that will allow us to address, in a reliable and planned manner, the numerous retirements expected in the coming years." The opening of the Forestry School in Nuoro is also essential .
"Faced with the destruction of entire swathes of land and the direct impact on people, local economies, and natural landscapes, there is growing concern over the chronic lack of structural, effective, and lasting measures by regional institutions," the unions explained in a statement. For 15 years, they have been denouncing the "fragility of the system for combating forest and environmental fires," without receiving satisfactory answers.
The unions list the critical issues of an "undersized system, with increasingly fewer and older personnel," exemplified by the helicopter fleet, "still incomplete and with a very high average age of operators." Many officers over 60 are still engaged in operational activities .
"It is clear," the unions conclude, "that under these conditions, it is no longer possible to guarantee effective coverage of the local area. For this reason, we urgently call for the launch of a special recruitment and training plan for at least 600-700 new employees within the next three to four years . Only in this way will it be possible to ensure a necessary generational turnover and maintain a competent and widespread presence throughout the area."
(Unioneonline/L)
