Government announces aid for victims of the earthquakes in Venezuela

Foreign rescue teams and aid started arriving in Venezuela on Friday nearly two days after two devastating earthquakes flattened areas in and around the capital Caracas. Locals have been digging through rubble in a bid to find relatives, friends and neighbors.

Opening Friday's cabinet session, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković expressed his deepest condolences to the victims of the devastating earthquakes that hit Venezuela on Wednesday. The two consecutive earthquakes, registering 7.2 and 7.5 on the Richter scale, claimed up to six hundred lives, while another three thousand have been injured. Additionally, tens of thousands are still trapped under the rubble, as rescue workers work to pull them from the ruins. Prime Minister Plenković also announced plans to help Venezuela and the victims of the earthquake: “We have asked the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, the Ministry of the Interior, and the Ministry of Finance to work with their international partners to determine the most appropriate way for Croatia to provide assistance. According to the Croatian Ambassador to the region, there have been no reports so far of casualties involving Croatian citizens or members of the Croat community in Venezuela.”

Later in the session Government forwarded into parliamentary procedure amendments to two laws that would introduce new rules for apartment owners and taxi drivers. The Hospitality Act is being amended to put an end to the unregistered short-term rental of accommodations and to introduce a unique registration number for each accommodation unit in Croatia. The obvious target is the unregulated market of short-term tourism rentals. Tourism Minister Tonči Glavina: “With this law, we are making significant changes, practically a real small reform, which is mostly aimed at eradicating the provision of unregistered activities, i.e. illegal work in terms of renting.”

As for the Road Transport Act, Government says it wants to bring order to the taxi transport sector and protect consumers from non-transparent and unreasonably high prices. Deputy Prime Minister and Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Oleg Butković: “We want to bring order. First, that the passenger must have clear information about the maximum price and the planned route before accepting the ride. We've had situations where a person gets into a taxi and comes out with a bill that is many times higher than what was realistically expected and fair.”

Source: HRT