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PS deputies have asked the Government on Monday if it is considering “an extraordinary support package” to respond to the damage caused last week by bad weather in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area.
In a question addressed to the Minister of Territorial Cohesion, Ana Abrunhosa, through the Assembly of the Republic, eleven PS deputies point out that “Portugal is one of the countries of the European Union (EU) most vulnerable to climate change.”
Its impacts are already affecting us in the present and the extreme phenomena of the last days, first in the Algarve region and in the last hours in the Lisbon District, are the perfect expression of climate change”, the text reads.
PS deputies ask Ana Abrunhosa if, “after evaluating the damage reports”, “an extraordinary support package will be considered, covering infrastructure and municipal equipment that were destroyed, businesses and services affected, as well as private damage.”
If so, ask “what instruments could be used to provide support” and if “the Municipal Emergency Fund will be one of these legal instruments.”
On these issues, the Socialist deputies also want to know “what will be the criteria to ensure the material and economic aid that will be provided and in what term.”
These questions to the Minister of Territorial Cohesion are signed by PS deputies Susana Amador, Miguel Cabrita, Pedro Cegonho, Ricardo Lima, Maria da Luz Rosinha, Edite Estrela, Romualda Fernandes, Rita Borges Madeira, João Nicolau, Pedro Anastácio and Diogo Leão.
The deputies address the floods that occurred on the night of Wednesday to Thursday to point out that the “extreme phenomenon that devastated the great Lisbon” it caused “hundreds of incidents causing severe property damage and involving hundreds of resettlements.”
“The rain that fell reached 80 millimeters, around 63% of the expected value for the entire month of December. The National Emergency and Civil Protection Commander, André Fernandes, also said that due to bad weather, 1,977 incidents were recorded throughout the country, 913 of which were in Lisbon.
Given these facts, Socialist deputies welcome the “quick response from the Government”having promoted, on Friday, a meeting “with the most affected municipalities of the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, in order to assess the impact of the damage caused by the meteorological adversity that occurred and to know the general situation that these municipalities are experiencing”.
“We know that this survey will be carried out by the municipalities, in conjunction with the Commission for Coordination and Regional Development of Lisbon and the Tagus Valley (CCDR-LVT)”, they indicate.
Source: Observadora
