Residents of the Al-Marja area in the Eastern Ghouta countryside of Damascus have called for the establishment of a civil defense center or a fixed emergency point, aiming to accelerate response to fires, accidents, and medical cases, amid the expansion of the area and the dispersion of its towns, as well as the distance of emergency centers from them.
Omar Sayed Khalil, head of Al-Atiiba town, told the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on Sunday that the town suffers from the absence of an ambulance and a fire station, despite the residents' need for emergency services. He pointed out that approximately 28 towns in the area fall under the jurisdiction of Al-Marja subdistrict, and the nearest point belonging to the Ministry of Emergency Affairs and Disaster Management is in Al-Nashabiya town, located about 25 kilometers away, while the distance to the nearest medical point or hospital ranges between 33 and 35 kilometers.
Khalil emphasized the importance of establishing a medical point and a fire station in Al-Atiiba to serve the town and neighboring villages, considering it the last town in Eastern Ghouta. For his part, Ahmad Al-Kilani, a resident of the Al-Marja area, stated that the region is in urgent need of a government civil defense center equipped with the necessary supplies to handle accidents, fires, and emergencies. He noted that responding to such incidents requires specialized teams capable of reaching report sites at the required speed.
For his part, Shadi Al-Hasan, director of the Emergency Affairs and Disaster Management Directorate in the Damascus countryside, clarified that the Directorate developed a comprehensive plan for distributing civil defense centers in the governorate after the liberation and the establishment of the Ministry of Emergency Affairs and Disaster Management. He pointed out that the fire station in Al-Nashabiya operates around the clock, and the Directorate is working on providing it with an ambulance, thereby enabling 24-hour medical services. Al-Hasan noted that the Al-Marja subdistrict is included in the Directorate's plan to establish a civil defense center, but its opening has been delayed due to limited budgets and the lack of necessary equipment and machinery, including ambulances and fire trucks.
Source: Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA)
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