During a visit to the São Mateus Fair in Viseu, Luís Marques Mendes stated that the measures announced after Thursday’s extraordinary Council of Ministers meeting “are all positive and heading in the right direction.”
One of the measures includes a plan for forest intervention from 2025 to 2050. According to Prime Minister Luís Montenegro, this plan will be debated to “create a true pact for forest management and protection” of the national territory.
“First, it’s necessary to assess what went wrong this fire season. Without this, the pact will be weak,” warned Marques Mendes.
The presidential candidate emphasized the need for another assessment, which has received little attention, regarding the measures implemented after the 2017 fires.
“Were they fulfilled or not? Were they heading in the right or wrong direction? These two assessments are essential to ensure that a forest pact is not just rhetoric but has useful content,” he stressed.
Marques Mendes remarked that “in terms of fires in Portugal, it seems that Saint Peter has more influence than forest reforms,” noting that “if the weather is fine, there are no fires, if it’s hot, there are fires.”
“This indicates that serious investment in prevention hasn’t been made as it should be. It also suggests that the measures adopted in 2017 seem ineffective. It appears that nearly everything remains the same in the forest,” he stated.
The presidential candidate reiterated that now is not the time for evaluations, but to support firefighters, communities, and local officials.
“But there will be a time for evaluation,” he added, recalling that “everyone promised things would be different from 2017,” yet “until today, it feels as though nothing has changed.”
Regarding the overall measures announced, he expressed concern about bureaucracy.
“I hope the Government will be very attentive to ensure bureaucracy doesn’t stall these measures, and that support reaches people quickly,” he added.
