During meetings with local officials, representatives of the Jēkabpils County Council stated that the existing procurement procedure would delay the completion of the necessary dam strengthening and other infrastructure works until next winter, which might again place the region in peril if conditions repeat themselves.
The President agreed that in this situation the legal framework should be changed in order to complete the work more speedily: "Bureaucratic obstacles must be put aside. At this point, everything must be done to get the job done. I will discuss this issue both with the Prime Minister and with the Ministers of Internal Affairs and Environmental Protection and Regional Development. It must be ensured that infrastructure strengthening works are carried out on time and with the relevant funding - the government must help the municipality," Levits was quited as saying by the Presidential Chancellery.
On Monday morning the waters of the River Daugava continued to subside and Jēkabpils is no longer in immediate danger, though clean-up works continue in affected areas and officials remain wary that another dangerous build-up of water could occur before spring arrives.
