EDP should be required by law to also keep a strip along its low-voltage electricity network clean of combustible materials, which, in the municipality of Monchique alone, is responsible for the start of a third of all forest fires.
The idea was defended this Monday, in Portimão, by the mayor of Monchique, one of the guests at the public hearing under the theme "Forest Fires – All angles of a design", promoted by the Algarve socialist deputy Miguel Freitas, who took place yesterday afternoon in the auditorium of the Museum of Portimão.
The PS parliamentarian is the rapporteur of a working group of the Assembly of the Republic to discuss the problem of forest fires, having to present a report during the month of March, so he came to Portimão to hear from mayors, fire commanders, agents of civil protection, foresters and other forest stakeholders what they had to say on the subject. And there was indeed a lot to say.
Monchique mayor Rui André, who is even a Social Democrat, recalled that “after the fires of 2003 and 2004 a lot of legislation was created”, but that no one solved a basic problem: “who pays for the necessary prevention interventions? Is it just the Chamber? Is it ICNF? Is it the Regional Directorate of Agriculture?».
The issue of financing prevention and surveillance activities was, in fact, the main theme of this debate, which had a full room. Isilda Gomes, mayor of Portimão, revealed that local authorities spend 200 million euros a year on Civil Protection tasks alone, according to a study by the National Association of Portuguese Municipalities (ANMP).
Rui André, for his part, pointed out that the Municipality of Monchique would spend, if it could fully comply with the law, 3 million euros a year to maintain the roadways and fuel management lanes along the 3000 kilometers of road network that that mountain county has. And who pays? Who finances?
ZIF don't work because funding ran out
The neighboring Serra do Caldeirão, which in 2012 was devastated by a gigantic fire, is dominated by smallholdings, where the plots have an average of 0,5 hectares. There, the Forest Intervention Zones (ZIF) may be even more important, allowing the management and profitability of such a fragmented forest, by giving it scale. However, as José Pedro Albuquerque, from the Association of Forestry Producers of Serra do Caldeirão, recalled, this zone theoretically has four ZIF installed, but only three work, because the fourth, ZIF Tavira II, saw the «financing for its technical staff end in 2010'. “Financing is needed to keep at least one technician working,” he stressed.
Jorge Botelho, president of the Chamber of Tavira and the Intermunicipal Community of the Algarve (AMAL), added: “the Government does not support the forest sapper teams, nor the ZIF, nor the Forestry Technical Offices. The Chambers have to assume all this».
The leader of the Algarve mayors stressed that "there is a lot of work to be done, especially in clarifying the legal framework", namely in defining the sources of funding.
Lieutenant-Colonel João Antunes (GNR), for his part, defended that the forest lookout posts, which are provided by the GNR military, should be transferred to the responsibility of the Chambers, in order to avoid that sometimes, even at high altitudes. most critical of the fires, are closed due to the lack of personnel of that force.
"And who pays?", immediately asked José Gonçalves, vice-president of the Aljezur Chamber. “The Chambers assume more and more responsibilities without any counterpart and this would be another one. It is necessary to get financing, because without it, we won't go there. And there are applications for funding that are not just for one year, but for several years».
The mayor of Aljezur referred to the case of the Association of Municipalities Terras do Infante, which brings together his council and also Lagos and Vila do Bispo, and whose Forestry Technical Office has the most complete forest management work in progress in the entire Algarve. However, «of the 15 sappers that we have here, we want to make them effective, but let's see if we continue to have funding. It is that sappers, from the moment they move to the staff of the Chambers or associations of municipalities, no longer have funding».
Jorge Silva, from AsproCivil (Portuguese Association of Security and Civil Protection Technicians), tuned to the same pitch, saying that «the competences were transferred from the central state to the autarchies, but they were not accompanied by the funds. This only removes the responsibility of the central State».
Isilda Gomes, mayor of Portimão, launched another fireworks for this discussion, when she revealed that the ANMP currently has in its hands the Government's proposal to change the legal regime for forest sappers, which “provides to withdraw support for the operation of teams in the amount of 35 thousand euros». This proposal, guaranteed the socialist mayor, has already deserved a "negative opinion" from the ANMP, but everything indicates that it should move forward.
If that happens, many Councils will be without any possibility of contracting teams of forest sappers, not least because the municipalities are prohibited from admitting more personnel. "We've already told the Secretary of State: either an exception is made so that the Chambers can hire the guard posts and that comes with a financial envelope, or a lot of things stop."
«What is happening with the sappers is too serious!», guaranteed Jorge Botelho. "This year, the Councils even have to reduce their staff by 2% and we want that, if the schools are an exception, the sappers are too!"
Defining financing is essential
In conclusion, Deputy Miguel Freitas elected the issue of financing both prevention and civil protection actions as central. Taking the proposal that moments before had been made by Vaz Pinto, operational commander of the ANPC, the deputy argued that it is necessary to «clarify the interventions of Civil Protection, but also the various powers in this area, as well as clarify the financing structure that exists in this area. matter, in prevention and in combat».
The point is that, in Portugal, a lot, a lot of money has been spent on fighting fires, a field that is already properly structured, but little is known about its prevention. And the central administration, as can be seen in the recent measure in relation to forest sappers, wants to increasingly reduce funding for everything that has to do with prevention, passing all this responsibility to the Municipal Councils, grappling with serious problems of underfunding.
“Depopulation is the central issue that we have to discuss, but I am aware that it is an irreversible process, which is why it forces us to strengthen the risk prevention and civil protection device. And to strengthen this device, taking into account the financial availability to do this work», stressed the parliamentarian.
Miguel Freitas recalled that «every year we know the fire-fighting device in the Algarve, we know how many people there are every year, around 400. But we don't know the prevention device that exists in the Algarve and Portugal. Who works on structural prevention? We do not know". And that, in the deputy's opinion, is serious, being another fact that he will include in his report.
At the end of a hearing that lasted more than three hours, the PS deputy and rapporteur of the Assembly of the Republic's working group to discuss the problem of forest fires was satisfied with the progress of work in Portimão.
“The objective of this hearing was to gather concrete proposals and that was achieved. It is always very important to bring the Assembly of the Republic to the ground».
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