Citizens' Safety Centre in Stepove village was created at the expense of the Slobozhanska hromada and with the assistance of the DOBRE Programme of the United States Agency for International Development, USAID, aimed at supporting decentralisation in Ukraine

From now on, the safety centre protects the peace of more than 14 thousand residents there. Rescuers assure that now they can respond to emergency events faster and are able to reach the place of the accident in 5-7 minutes.

The new Stepove village safety centre has a garage, office premises, dining room, lounge room and even a shower. 15 specialists – both professional rescuers and volunteers – are working here.

The locals say that safety center was necessary, as far as before in case of emergency they had to wait for the rescuers from the very Dnipro city, and that is the time people usually lack. Now rescuers can reach the accident place in 5-7 minutes.

Yevheniya Korinna, starosta of Stepove village says: "It was vital, as we have a fire station either in the Dnipro, or in Tsarychanka. Over this year we have had 8 fire cases, and we were waiting for 40 minutes for a fire truck to arrive, the record was 1.5 hours. When they arrive, there's nothing to extinguish."

Ihor Kaminskyi, head of the Slobozhanska hromada, tells that the main goal of the authorities is to make people's lives more comfortable, demonstrate positive changes that take place in the AH after the amalgamation, and show the potential of decentralisation in practice.

"We see further ways in cooperation with other hromadas, and the main thing is to change the style and way of life on this territory," says Ihor Kaminskyi.

The American fund provided financial assistance to the Slobozhanska hromada for the purpose of completing the strategic safety centre in Stepovyi. The necessary equipment and special means for the elimination of emergency situations were received in cooperation with the DOBRE Programme, aimed at supporting decentralisation in Ukraine.

Barry Reed, Chief of DOBRE Programme says: “DOBRE provided equipment in the field – generators, motor pumps and computers to the offices. Interestingly enough, this hromada established a fire station in a small village instead of big ones. This is a very good attempt to make a small village part of something bigger”.

Author: Anna Vernihorova

Camera: Oleksandr Vysochyn