Amidst a shortage of aerial firefighting and rescue resources, “an alarming lack of the Government’s ability to ensure adequate levels of protection and assistance to Portuguese citizens and national territory is evident,” the socialist deputies stated in the question submitted on Thursday to the Assembly of the Republic, disclosed today.
“The helicopter assigned to the Centro de Meios Aéreos de Mafra is currently unavailable, which compromises the immediate response capacity in Greater Lisbon,” the document states.
According to the PS, the aerial resources planned for Moura, Grândola, Ourique, and Portalegre are also “unavailable.”
The PS parliamentary group questioned the Minister of Internal Administration to confirm the unavailability of these five aerial resources, since when it has been verified, and for what reason.
If confirmed, they also want to know what measures have been adopted to address the shortage of the five helicopters and when they are expected to be operational.
The socialists stated that the unavailability of these five helicopters “necessitates the relocation of more distant aerial resources, with a critical time loss and potential damage for fires to erupt in this or other regions.”
“These relocations involve departure in the morning, returning by the end of the day to the original position both of the aerial resource and its respective crew,” they added.
“The aerial resources are contracted for a certain number of hours, and additional hours may be required due to those spent on pre-positioning,” the socialists warned.
The issue raises “doubts about the compliance with the leasing contracts of these aerial resources and the commitments made,” according to the socialists.
“What is the contractual regime applicable to the availability of these aerial resources, is any penalty or compensation forecasted for their absence?” they ask.
The socialists also seek to know “the number of hours spent on pre-positioning of the aerial resources,” “the estimated hours to be spent,” “the estimated budgetary impact due to an increase in the hours contracted because of the need to carry out these pre-positionings” and whether “other situations of unavailable resources have been reported.”
