Brussels (The Brussels Morning newspaper): In 2007 Belgium created emergency zones but Brussels’ SIAMU feels unfairly funded compared to other zones leading to ongoing negotiations for a fair resolution by August 12.
Back in 2007 Belgian’s government made a big change to help with emergencies by passing a law. This law said they should set up different emergency response zones to make it easier to work together and respond better to emergencies and disasters. They changed how they deal with emergencies to make it more organized. The goal was to work better together be quicker in responding and use resources smarter in all areas. They started making these emergency response zones step by step. Even though they passed the law in 2007 they only started creating these zones a few years later. They first set up pre-zones to get ready before fully putting the changes into action. They took their time to make sure everything worked well by testing and getting feedback from real situations. They also used this time to train people and set up new ways of doing things. By 2015 and 2016 they finished setting up all the emergency response zones which officially changed how they handle civil security in the country.It has been said that this step-by-step approach helped make the switch to the new system smoother avoiding big problems and making it easier for everyone to adjust to the changes.
Why is there a funding dispute between Brussels’ emergency services and the federal government in Belgium?
In 2007 they made a law to change how they handle emergencies by creating emergency zones. They set up a system where each zone gets money from the government to help them. The amount of money each zone gets depends on things like how many people live there the size of the area and what they need. But the emergency services in Brussels like SlAMU didn’t get the same money as the other zones. Instead they got a different kind of money just for them. SlAMU in Brussels felt they were not being treated fairly because they didn’t get the same money as other emergency services in different areas. They thought it wasn’t right that they had a different funding system that didn’t give them as much financial support as the federal subsidies other zones received. This made them feel like they were being unfairly treated and raised concerns about whether resources were being distributed equally for emergency services in the country.
The final deadline is on August 12th. But the Brussels State Secretary Ans Persoons’ office said they still haven’t figured things out at the federal level. In June there was a meeting where the federal government shared some ideas but Persoons’ office didn’t like them. So Persoons’ office suggested a different idea and now they’re waiting for the federal government to give a response. The Minister of the Interior Annelies Verlinden’s office hasn’t said anything about it yet.
