The head of the Social Democrats faction, Povilas Pinelis, wrote on the social network “Facebook” that Vilnius allocates one million euros for shelters. However, according to him, one apartment building, where more than 60 families live, will most likely receive nothing from these funds. Not because people here do not need shelters.
On the contrary – because in order to receive funding for a shelter, you first need to prove that the shelter already exists.
“This is where the wonderful life of municipal bureaucracy begins,” he wrote, adding a photo of one apartment building in Vilnius.
According to P. Pinelis, descending into the basement of the apartment building, you are met with concrete walls, old pipes, bicycles, jars, a cabinet not thrown out since the 1990s. Because, according to him, for a person this is a place where, if needed, they would run to hide, but for the municipality, not yet.
“For the basement to become a shelter, it must first be recognized by the municipality. Then a decision from the community or administrator, an appeal to the municipality, a permit, design, an invitation from the Ministry of the Interior, another application and its evaluation are needed. If you overcome all this – congratulations, because then you can expect funding,” said the politician.
In other words, to receive civil protection assistance, according to him, the apartment building must first operate like a small, exemplary ministry.
“And a house without an active community, where neighbors do not gather, the administrator shows no initiative and no one wants to become a free civil protection project manager after work? According to the authorities, it seems he needs less security,” he pondered.
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P. Pinelis also reminded about the one million euros promised to Vilnius for shelters.
“Even if all the money were already on the table, according to the planned amounts, it would be enough for about 200 shelters if only automatic opening systems were installed. And in a typical Fabijoniškės yard, there can be 12–16 basements that would need to be adapted for people to hide.
And here is the million, which seemed big and muscular in the council hall, coming to Fabijoniškės and facing the needs of tens of thousands of people, becomes very small,” he calculated.
He reminded that shelters have been discussed more seriously since 2022.
“Four years have passed. During that time, working groups, procedures, coordination, programs, and funding mechanisms have appeared. Vilnius today has a procedure description, a funding instrument, and a promise of one million euros.
And many houses still have what they had when it all started: a basement. Although some already have a municipality-issued sticker with the inscription ‘SHELTER’,” he wrote.
The situation regarding shelters in apartment buildings, their selection, and funding was more broadly commented on by the Vilnius municipality.
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