The construction of the so-called “lighthouses” in civil protection is progressing slowly. So far, the digital radio technology required in the event of a breakdown in regular communication – i.e. telephone networks – is not fully operational in any of the twelve districts. This emerges from a response from Interior Secretary Torsten Akmann (SPD) to a request from the CDU legal expert Alexander Herrmann, which is available to the Tagesspiegel in advance.
“The Senate is letting the districts down again after the lack of emergency power generators when setting up structures,” said Herrmann, who has been the deputy for Kaulsdorf since 2021.
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A few weeks ago, an FDP inquiry revealed: The civil protection in Berlin has deficiencies in the power supply.
Only half of the 36 local contact points, the “disaster control lighthouses”, are said to have a secure emergency power supply. For some others, mobile aggregates are supposed to provide the energy, while others do not receive any emergency power at all.
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The contact points are intended to inform the residents if neither the internet nor radio and television work during a blackout. To this end, the lighthouses are to be equipped and protected with modern IT technology.
According to Herrmann, the staff is not enough either: “Even the civil defense and disaster control working group of the internal administration currently only has seven employees.”
In addition, it is unclear what the employees responsible for civil protection in the districts could do in an emergency. On average, three mostly part-time employees are responsible for civil protection in each district. This usually results in a full position. In Mitte there are 2.8 full-time positions, in Marzahn-Hellersdorf just 0.5.
The CDU man calls for staff and expertise to be pooled in a state authority for civil protection.
