The Polish government will allocate funds to restock the River Odra, Mateusz Morawiecki, the prime minister of Poland, wrote on social media on Monday.
The Odra, Poland’s second longest river, has been polluted by a still unidentified toxin that has killed thousands of fish in one of Poland’s worst environmental disasters in recent years.
Morawiecki took to social media to recount his meeting with soldiers and firefighters assisting with the river’s clean-up in the town of Uraz, in southwestern Poland.
“I have come to Uraz to thank you for your help here and to express my respect,” he wrote.
“We will allocate the necessary resources to restock the river so that the River Odra can be reborn,” the prime minister added.
He pointed out that “today, we are focusing our efforts on removing the effects of an environmental disaster and trying to determine its cause.”
Morawiecki reiterated that a special debate would be held on how to tighten regulations concerning the discharge of chemicals into waterways.
Describing Poland’s “beautiful nature” as a common heritage and national asset, the prime minister added that because of that he would do everything not only to ascertain the cause of this dreadful ecological event ultimately but also to build preventative security mechanisms wherever possible.
“Forests, lakes and rivers must be looked after, not only for us but for future generations,” he added.