The works to repair infrastructure damaged by Friday's tornado in the municipalities of Silves and Lagoa will be exempt from prior approval by the Court of Auditors, municipalities will have access to the Municipal Emergency Fund and may increase their indebtedness, while the populations will be able to appeal to the Social Relief Fund. These are, in short, the main points of the resolution approved today by the Council of Ministers.
The decisions were presented after the Government meeting by the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Miguel Relvas, who explained that the authorization to increase the indebtedness of municipalities implies changing the proposed State Budget for 2013.
Miguel Relvas added that, to that end, he asked all parties with parliamentary seats to “extend the deadline for submitting proposals” to amend the State Budget so that in 2013 the municipalities of Silves can exceed “the net debt and indebtedness limits of medium and long term”, and that this “was unanimously accepted”.
The Resolution of the Council of Ministers states that the two municipalities are «from now on authorized to exceed, in 2013, the limits of net indebtedness and medium and long-term indebtedness, for the amount strictly necessary to contract loans to finance the necessary interventions to the replacement of the affected municipal infrastructure and equipment».
The minister added that the two municipalities will also have access to the Municipal Emergency Fund, "which was already included in the State Budget", but whose fund in 2013 will increase to "five million euros".
As for the Social Relief Fund, Relvas said that "affected people from the most needy sectors" in the municipalities of Lagoa and Silves will have access to it.
The statement from the Council of Ministers also mentions that an inter-ministerial commission was created, chaired by Miguel Relvas and made up of members of the Government responsible for the areas of finance, internal administration, local administration and social security.
Commenting on the Resolution of the Council of Ministers, the president of the Chamber of Lagoa told the Sul Informação that “it falls far short of what would be necessary and expected”, especially because it does not respond to a large part of the damage suffered by individuals, “but it seems that it is possible within the existing legal framework”.
José Inácio praised, even so, the performance of the Government, stressing that "there had to be a regime of exception, even so that the performance could be faster".
For his part, Rogério Pinto, mayor of Silves, expressed his satisfaction with the set of measures proposed, which «open up prospects of being able to quickly repair all the damage, returning to the residents the spaces that, before the passage of the tornado , were available for your enjoyment».
The mayor of Silvense highlighted "the speed in defining the support measures, which reveals the Government's concern regarding this situation and its resolution."
The mayor was also concerned about the compensation for the damages of private individuals, continuing to appeal to all those who suffered damage to homes, vehicles and other property, to proceed with the opening of a notice with the authorities, of so that they can better prove the damage they suffered.
In this regard, he also informed that a meeting is already scheduled with the Secretary of State for Solidarity and Social Security and the regional director of Social Security in the Algarve, for next Saturday (November 24th), a meeting that will serve to establish more specifically, the procedures to be adopted to support the families and local businesses most affected by the phenomenon.
Rogério Pinto will also request a meeting with the Secretary of State for Local Administration, in order to understand the procedures to be followed to access the funds mentioned in the support defined by the Government.
In Lagoa, the mayor José Inácio announced to the Sul Informação that on Saturday morning a meeting is scheduled “to operationalize some procedures”, with the presence of technicians from the municipality, from Urbanism, Social Action and Civil Protection, with technicians from the Social Security Institute.
"It will be a meeting to operationalize the issue of the recovery of private homes, to see who can or cannot be supported," added the mayor of Lagoa.
Resolution of the Council of Ministers:
R 561 / 2012
2012.11.21
the district of Faro was, on November 16, 2012, buffeted by exceptional weather conditions that, in the municipalities of Silves and Lagoa, caused significant damage without installations for economic activities, infrastructure, public equipment, housing and other goods.
The civil protection system and the respective agents, at national, district and municipal levels, acting in a coordinated manner, managed to restore the functioning of infrastructure and equipment essential to the lives of populations, with the necessary collaboration of the entities responsible for each of the areas, namely in the fields of energy, water supply, communications and circulation.
After this first phase of response, and within a framework of exceptionality given by the nature of the occurrence and the extent of the damage, an inter-ministerial commission was set up to politically coordinate the mechanisms aimed at minimizing the consequences of exceptional weather conditions, made up of members of the Government responsible for the areas of finance, internal administration, local administration and solidarity and social security, which is coordinated by the Deputy Minister for Parliamentary Affairs.
A meeting between the aforementioned commission and the mayors of Silves and Lagoa resulted in the need to carry out a survey of the impacts caused in these municipalities, both on people and on economic activities, infrastructure, public facilities, housing and other goods, essential for proper monitoring of affected people, as well as for taking measures to mitigate and counteract the harmful effects of the aforementioned weather conditions.
Without prejudice to the conclusion of the ongoing process aimed at rigorously ascertaining the damages suffered, it is, from now on, possible to state that the extent of the damages gives the situation an exceptional character, requiring the Government to create conditions that allow for the realization of in an adequate and equitable manner, the minimization of losses, using the available legal instruments for this purpose.
Taking into account the specificity of the weather conditions of November 16, 2012 in the municipalities of Silves and Lagoa and the type of damage in question, which for the most part did not affect the safety and solidity of the housing structure, but generated evident damages in functionality and comfort of them, it is important to guarantee a quick response to this situation, also taking into account the fact that the families continue to reside in these houses.
The financial allocations to be made available for the implementation of the measures now adopted are fixed as soon as the process of ascertaining the damages is completed, with the support to be granted based on the damage actually suffered and the incapacity of the victims to overcome the situation, in whole or in part , by its own means, namely when the protection arising from existing insurance contracts is insufficient.
Like this:
Pursuant to paragraph g) of article 199 of the Constitution, the Council of Ministers resolves:
1 – Approve mechanisms designed to minimize the consequences of exceptional weather conditions that, on November 16, 2012, caused significant damage in the municipalities of Silves and Lagoa.
2 – Unleash the procedures necessary to minimize the damage caused by the weather conditions referred to in the previous number, using the following instruments:
a) Allow, in 2013, the affected municipalities to exceed the limits of net indebtedness and medium and long-term indebtedness, for the amount strictly necessary to contract loans to finance the interventions necessary to restore the affected municipal infrastructure and equipment, under the legal terms, and with respect for the provisions of paragraph 2 of article 37 and paragraph 3 of article 39 of the Local Finance Law;
b) Allow recourse to the Municipal Emergency Fund provided for in Decree-Law No. 225/2009, of September 14, considering that the weather conditions occurred on November 16, 2012, in the municipalities of Silves and Lagoa, they embody exceptional conditions, for the purposes of paragraph 2 of article 68 of Law no. 64-B/2011, of 30 December, and in an identical rule contained in the law that approves the State Budget for 2013;
c) Allow recourse to the Social Relief Fund provided for in Decree-Law No. 102/2012, of 11 May.
3 – To determine that the member of the Government responsible for the area of solidarity and social security adopts the necessary procedures for granting support aimed at repairing damage to individuals and families who are in a situation of social emergency.
4 – For the purposes of the preceding paragraph, the district services of the Social Security Institute, IP, provide direct and immediate support to all situations of a social nature that prove to be essential, in close collaboration and cooperation with the municipal councils involved.
5 – Determine that the financial instruments referred to in the previous numbers are mobilized upon approval by the members of the Government responsible for the finance area and for the respective area of intervention.
6 - Establish that the rules applicable to the verification of damages and the criteria for the reimbursement and financing of eligible expenses are those arising from each of the instruments identified in the previous numbers or, in their absence, those established by order of the members of the Government responsible for the area of finance and the person responsible for the matter.
7 – Commit to the inter-ministerial commission chaired by the Deputy Minister and Parliamentary Affairs and made up of the members of the Government responsible for the areas of finance, internal administration, local administration and solidarity and social security, with the political coordination of the mechanisms referred to in this resolution.
8 – Determine that this resolution takes effect on the date of its approval.
Presidency of the Council of Ministers,
The Prime Minister
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