Territorial Cohesion Minister Manuel Castro Almeida promised support “very soon” on Wednesday, with priority given to the first homes and businesses affected by the fires.
“Greater support, support for the reconstruction of factories and houses, are things that could not have started yet, but will start very soon. If all goes well, they will start within a very reasonable time frame,” said Manuel Castro Almeida.
After leaving a meeting today with seven mayors of the Viseu region, one of the municipalities most affected by the fires that have ravaged the region since Monday, the Minister of Territorial Cohesion stressed that there are priorities in the distribution of support.
That is to say, “we must distinguish between first homes and those that are not first homes” and there are also cases “of factories that have completely burned down and are not in operation and factories that are generally functioning, although with small parts damaged or destroyed.”
“There is a first and a second priority. Let us give priority” to employment, since “factories need to work and people need to be able to have their job and their salary at the end of the month,” he said.
Manuel Castro Almeida also stated that “support has already begun and it is the responsibility of the mayors who are currently fulfilling their duty” and, in that sense, he guaranteed that all people are receiving support.
“Right now there are no people without a bed, everyone has a place to sleep, there are no health centres closed, there is no one going hungry that we know of. It is true that there are some children who are not going to school, because there is difficulty in accessing school and there is no solution,” but it should be “two or three more days.”
Next Tuesday, the minister will meet with all the mayors of the Centro region, who by then should have completed the forms with the surveys, which have already been distributed today in Mangualde and on Tuesday in Aveiro.
In a comparison with the meeting in Aveiro, the governor said that, according to what he heard from the mayors of the Viseu district on Wednesday, “there are fewer burned houses, fewer factories, but a much larger number of agricultural facilities” affected, since this region “is conducive” to this.
It is important to “harmonise procedures” and “work with harmonised forms in all municipalities” so that the Government can “very quickly define the nature, size and scope of support for each of the sectors”.
That is, for housing, for industry, for agriculture, for forests, for public facilities, since “there are several equipment that were affected,” he said, giving the example of wastewater treatment plants (WWTP).
“Our aim is to use local governments as channels to provide support to the population,” said the Minister for Territorial Cohesion.
Representing the mayors, the mayor of Mangualde, Marco Almeida, told reporters that they left the meeting “satisfied, as long as what was promised today during the meeting with government officials is fulfilled.”
Manuel Castro Almeida attended the meeting of the Mangualde City Council with several mayors from the Viseu district of the municipalities most affected by the flames.
The Minister of Territorial Cohesion was accompanied by the Secretaries of State for Health, Social Action, Infrastructure, Housing, Economy, Forests and Local Administration.
Source: Observadora
