Albuquerque will respond in writing about the fire in Madeira

Date:

Share post:

“I will provide the answer in accordance with the [regional parliament] regulations, as I have always done, which is in writing. As is customary in committees, the prerogative of the government president is to respond in writing, so I will respond in writing, as I did in other committees,” he explained.

Miguel Albuquerque (PSD) spoke to journalists in Funchal, on the sidelines of the opening ceremony of the national final of “Poliempreende,” a business idea competition with projects developed by students, graduates, or teachers from polytechnic institutions of higher education.

The head of the executive stated that by responding in writing, he is not “avoiding confrontation,” but merely complying with the “provisions of the law and regulations,” and emphasized that his executive will “fully clarify how the fires were technically fought.”

The request for the hearing of Miguel Albuquerque and also the Secretary of Health and Civil Protection, Pedro Ramos, as well as the president of the Regional Civil Protection Service, António Nunes, was authored by JPP and approved in the parliamentary committee with favorable votes from the proponent (two votes), two others from PS, one from CDS-PP, and the abstention of four PSD deputies.

JPP argues that “Miguel Albuquerque and Pedro Ramos must be held accountable” from a political standpoint and also “for the high degree of negligence, the demonstrated disorientation, and the absence of timely decisions, which put the lives of populations and animals at serious risk.”

The regional parliament consists of 19 deputies from PSD, 11 from PS, nine from JPP, four from Chega, two from CDS-PP, one from IL, and one from PAN.

The parliamentary hearing has not yet been scheduled, but Miguel Albuquerque expresses his willingness to provide all clarifications and criticizes the opposition parties, namely PS, for using the fires to “engage in political chicanery.”

“I think this is a serious issue that should be treated seriously; nobody wants to run away from anything. Now, this is not a circus. We are talking about professionals, professional pride, competence, and, above all, technical organization,” he said, and then reinforced: “Fires are not fought with demagoguery; they are fought by qualified people trained to do so.”

The head of the minority Social Democratic executive also said that he will not “question competent professionals” with an important curriculum serving the archipelago for reasons of “political chicanery.”

“People don’t go from great to terrible in two minutes for political reasons,” he declared.

The rural fire on Madeira Island broke out on August 14 in the mountains of Ribeira Brava municipality, progressively spreading to the municipalities of Câmara de Lobos, Ponta do Sol, and Santana. On the 26th, after 13 days, the regional Civil Protection indicated that the fire was “totally extinguished.”

Data from the European Forest Fire Information System point to more than 5,104 hectares of burned area, although regional authorities have signaled 5,116.

During the days when the fire raged, authorities instructed nearly 200 people to leave their homes as a precaution and made public reception facilities available, but many residents returned home.

Fighting the flames was made difficult by wind and high temperatures, but according to the Regional Government, there are no reports of injuries or destruction of essential public houses and infrastructure, although some small agricultural productions were affected, in addition to forest areas.

Related articles

The Renaissance of Porto’s Jewish Community

By Gabriela Cantergi President of B'nai B'rith Portugal Porto, the epicenter of Jewish life in Portugal, has one of...

More than 3,300 lawyers and solicitors apply to handle immigrant backlogs

At least 3,342 legal professionals have applied to provide services to the State in processing pending immigrant cases,...

New Palestinian Ambassador to Lisbon aims to strengthen relations with Portugal

The new Palestinian Ambassador to Lisbon, Rawan Tarek Sulaiman, stated today in brief remarks to Lusa news agency...

Government points to 34.8% adherence to doctors’ strike

The data provided by the Government are still provisional, according to information given to Lusa by the Ministry...