This Friday, the Assembly of the Republic unanimously approved a Draft Resolution on Post-Fire Support Measures for Tavira and São Brás de Alportel, proposed by a group of 20 deputies which included all those elected by the Algarve circle, of all the parties.
A political sign of support for victims of fires that is intended to be the basis for the operationalization of measures to support the recovery of the productive fabric and environmental consolidation, within the scope of Proder, whose execution is not being swift, contrary to what happened in a first phase with emergency social support and for the reconstruction of burned houses.
Socialist deputy Miguel Freitas, the first subscriber to the document followed by Cristóvão Norte (PSD), Artur Rego (CDS), Paulo Sá (CDU) and Cecília Honório (BE), reminded the Sul Informação that 22 applications have already been submitted to the European Union Program for the development of the interior for post-fire emergency measures and recovery of the productive fabric, but «there has been no approved application yet».
With the approval of this Draft Resolution, the AR «has given a signal of support, joining the petition presented by 4200 citizens» and which had already been discussed in Parliament.
The decision taken yesterday serves as a recommendation to the Government and as a "political signal that we will not leave these populations alone." «There were two paths. Discuss the petition and stop there or go ahead with the Draft Resolution and give it political importance», summarized Miguel Freitas.
“We are already entering the softening phase. And this situation is very serious for those people who have lost almost everything and for the local economy», he considered, defending that it will be «fundamental that those populations are not abandoned».
To prevent this from happening, the signatories of the Draft Resolution defended that, in addition to speeding up the assessment and eventual approval of applications to Proder, progress towards an integrated plan for the recovery of the burned area, through the partnership between the municipalities, the forestry and producer associations and other entities.
"This measure has already been taken in other European countries, following large fires, with good results, as is the case in Spain and Greece", he explained. One of the success stories is that of Malaga, where a recovery plan financed by the Life program of the European Union was put into place.
“There is no lack of money [for this type of action at the European level], what can be lack of political guidance”, considered Miguel Freitas.
Monitoring and reducing bureaucracy are essential
The recommendations of the deputies to the Government approved unanimously in Parliament yesterday also include the creation of "a Technical Commission that makes periodic reports so that we know what is going on" in support of the victims of the fire in Catraia.
This entity would be responsible for “monitoring the situation on the ground” and then producing reports “annually or semi-annually” so that it would be publicly known “how things are progressing or if they are not”.
Miguel Freitas also left appeals to deepen the bureaucracy of the process of legalizing rural properties in the affected areas. Even so, he did not fail to emphasize the "good first reaction that the Government had to the problem in question."
“In order to apply, people will have to prove that the land is theirs and that this is an area where there is no land registry,” he recalled. The Socialist deputy considered it "fundamental" to apply a "tax exemption regime" for these cases.
He also defended the creation of “an exception regime for public contracting”, in cases where expenses are intended to occur in emergency situations, which do not have to go through public tenders, even when they are dealing with higher amounts.
Of the 22 candidacies already submitted to Proder, two are municipal, five were submitted by associations of forest producers and the rest, that is, more than half, by individuals.
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