Due to the problematic gas heating boiler in the Riga municipal kindergarten "Madarina," children and staff were evacuated twice in a short period this autumn. The equipment is outdated and has been malfunctioning for a long time, periodically leaving the premises without heating. Instead of replacing it with a new one, the responsible services have only repaired the boiler for years, which has not yielded long-term results, reports Bez Tabu (TV3).
Both evacuations from the kindergarten "Madarina" occurred in early October. The first time there was a fire in the boiler room — the electronics of the gas boiler caught fire, and the second time a gas leak was detected in the heating system.
The gas boiler in this educational institution has been a problem for a long time. Bez Tabu reported on this two years ago — at that time, the equipment was malfunctioning, leaving the kindergarten without heating.
While parents managed to tolerate short-term heating interruptions, the recent events have raised serious concerns and worries about the safety of children in the preschool institution.
A representative of the kindergarten told Bez Tabu that after the recent evacuations, the malfunctions were fixed, but there is no confidence that the boiler will operate for long without new problems. She also emphasized that the institution has long insisted to the local government on the need to replace the boiler with a new one.
"We are promised that everything will be fine, but who can guarantee that? We are just very insistent on a new [boiler]. They promise, but they promised that two years ago. It is logical that we want a new one — we write, we demand," said the representative of the preschool institution.
The kindergarten is managed by the municipal enterprise "Rīgas nami," which is also responsible for the maintenance and repair of heating systems. The Property Department of the Riga City Council has demanded explanations from "Rīgas nami."
"Detailed explanations have been requested, as they [“Rīgas nami”] bear direct responsibility for the start of the heating season and technical maintenance. After receiving the information, the local government will decide whether to continue cooperation with “Rīgas nami” or look for another service organization," explained Maris Mezile, head of the Construction Department of the Property Department of the Riga City Council.
"Rīgas nami" stated that they serviced the boiler properly and frequently enough.
"In addition to regular maintenance before and after the season, emergency calls occurred very often. If we take a snapshot from last year — our specialists went there about 10 times. The fact is that the boiler is very outdated — it is about 20 years old. And that means finding spare parts is extremely difficult," explained Dače Preisa, public relations manager of LLC "Rīgas nami."
"Rīgas nami" also emphasized that two years ago, when heating interruptions began, they recommended the Property Department to install a new boiler. However, the decision to allocate funds is within the competence of this department.
The events of October have prompted the local government to take action — a decision was recently made to install a new gas boiler in the kindergarten before the next heating season.
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