The National Association of Portuguese Municipalities (ANMP) wants to take administrative possession of private bushland and forest lands that are abandoned to clean them and thus avoid fires like the one last September, which caused seven deaths.
This proposal, according to Jornal de Notícias (JN), is part of a document with 21 measures that the ANMP will present to the Government and that suggests changes in the integrated rural fire management system, the civil protection chain of command and the statute of municipal sappers, also pointing out the need to invest in the valorization of the forest.
One of the proposals is the administrative possession of abandoned private forests and bushlands and their clearance to speed up registration. It is also suggested to call the Armed Forces to the surveillance mission to prevent fires.
“It is not about keeping the property, but about creating a more agile and faster mechanism that allows action in a short period of time.“, states the JN, adding that “the invoice will be sent to the owners of the land and the fees will be refunded.”
Currently, the administrative possession of abandoned land is a complex legal process, which can take months or years.
According to the document cited by the newspaper, the ANMP wants to “include in the legislation the obligation for owners to provide a deposit/guarantee to the municipalities in the phase prior to cutting and transporting the woody material,” to guarantee that the remains are cleaned. then the felling of trees and that those responsible be identified if there is damage to the roads due to the activity.
In the document, The mayors also defend the reinforcement of human and technical resources destined “for the property registrypointing out that it is a fundamental tool to know the land owners and “establish responsibilities for non-compliance with fuel management bands.”
Among the 21 measures, there is also the increase investment in the structuring network of firewalls and universalize video surveillance in rural areas with fire risk.
In September, the president of the ANMP, Luísa Salgueiro (PS), had already demanded more powers and more resources for local authorities in matters of prevention and fight against fires, highlighting the issue of cleaning abandoned land.
“Municipalities have a very close relationship with local institutions, that is, associations of humanitarian firefighters and firefighters of fire brigades, so we can take on more responsibilities if the local administration so wishes and obviously balance these responsibilities with the resources that are necessary,” he said.
Source: Observadora
