EU – Baltic States, Financial Services, Latvia, Legislation, Technology

If the project is successfully implemented, the system will send information about a given emergency and recommended residents' action to all mobile telephones in the area affected by the emergency. It will require mobile phone users make relevant changes in their phones' setup, however.

A similar project has been implemented in Lithuania, where it cost approximately EUR 3 million. The system is also functional in the Netherlands, but only 26% of Dutch residents have enabled their phones to receive such messages.

Currently no funds are planned for the creation of the system in Latvia, and European Union's funding has been denied for the project. "But the idea is still on, we are looking at various solutions. We will have to turn to the government and ask that money be provided for the project," stressed Eklons.

Nevertheless, the system alone will not solve all the problems in notifying the public about emergencies, which means that the system of sirens also needs to be further developed, as there are no sirens set up in several towns and counties of Latvia. At the moment, there are 164 sirens in Latvia. The Fire and Rescue Service has been unable to sign a contract on maintenance of the sirens for the past three years, as there are few companies in Latvia that employ experts who could do the job. Right now it appears though that a contract could be signed soon, and maintenance of the sirens could commence, in the near future. It will require EUR 60,000 annually.

Sirens are inspected twice a year. Inspection carried out at the end of last year found that 27 sirens did not work or did not work properly. The Fire and Rescue Service usually informs the public couple of days before sirens are tested, however, a survey found in 2013 that the information had not reached 50% of residents.

Eklons said that these were quite alarming indicators, however, the situation elsewhere in Europe is not much better. In Austria, sirens cover 95% of the country, however, the system only reaches 60% of residents. Austrians explain that this is due to new construction techniques, for instance, windows that stifle sound.

Participants in the meeting also discussed the subject of the "little green men" in the frontier areas, and the Lithuanian Defense Ministry's recent booklet on what residents should do in the event of a war. The committee's chairman Augusts Brigmanis (Greens/Farmers) told LETA that Latvia should also consider the idea of a similar booklet, while Eklons told reporters that the book in Lithuania was published for political reasons and he saw no need for such a book in Latvia. According to Eklons, the Fire and Rescue Service would rather consider publishing a booklet on what residents should do in the case of an emergency, and the service has already begun to work on compiling the relevant information.

The committee did not reach any definitive solutions today, and discussions about the best way to notify residents of emergencies will continue in the future.