OREANDA-NEWS. The Australian government will allocate about $ 1.4 billion to restore areas affected by forest fires. This was announced on Monday by Prime Minister Scott Morrison during a press conference in Canberra.

According to the head of the Australian government, the authorities intend to create a “national fund for restoration after forest fires of at least 2 billion Australian dollars ($ 1.4 billion)”, from which over the next two years all restoration work in the regions affected by fire. The operator of the fund will be the special state agency created the day before, which will be headed by Andrew Colvin, former Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police.

It's expected that the new structure will work closely with the governments of the affected states and territories to "quickly restore homes and infrastructure destroyed by forest fires". Also, at the expense of the fund, assistance will be provided to farmers affected by fires, small businesses and forestry.

Currently, 136 forest fires have been registered in the region, 69 of which remain non-localized. More than 2.5 thousand firefighters and hundreds of special vehicles, including 90 heavy aircraft, are fighting the fire.