The Ministry of Environment is going to hand over 800 euros to the Algarve's municipalities on whose coast storm Ema caused damage at the end of February.
Environment minister João Matos Fernandes was this Tuesday in Portimão to preside over the signing of a protocol between the Portuguese Environment Agency, the Environmental Fund and the Portimão Chamber, which will receive 65 euros to repair the damage, especially in walkways and other public structures that were affected.
According to João Matos Fernandes, the municipality that will receive the largest amount of money to face the damage caused by the storms is Olhão, for which around 220 thousand euros are earmarked.
In the case of Faro, where the Chamber announced losses above 400 thousand euros, according to the order of the minister published on March 29, the Government allocated 193 thousand euros, for the mobilization of sand and repair of walkways, on the beach of Faro.
On his last visit to the Algarve, the member of the Government invited the mayor of Faro to indicate what was not included in the survey that the Ministry had carried out, "because he will certainly be right, and we will assess it shortly afterwards". However, the assessment did not coincide and the capital receives less than half of the value assessed by the municipality.
Albufeira (130 thousand euros), Loulé (52 thousand euros), Tavira (58 thousand euros), Lagoa (47 thousand), Vila Real de Santo António (26 thousand) and Silves (6800 euros) are the other municipalities in the Algarve that will go receive funds from the Environmental Fund to repair the damage caused by bad weather. The funds are intended, in its vast majority, to repair walkways and accesses to several beaches and to replace sand.
The support now announced is much higher than the initial estimates by João Matos Fernandes, who was in the region about two weeks ago to see on the spot the destruction caused by the storms that ravaged the region, at the end of February and the first days of March. At the time, the member of the Government was also in Portimão, having also visited Fuzeta, in the municipality of Olhão, and Praia de Faro. On that day, the minister's idea was that the damages would be around 250 euros.
The 800 euros now announced for the Algarve, which are part of a 1,4 million euros cake, to be distributed across 25 municipalities across the country, were determined following a survey that was carried out by the local authorities and sent to the tutelage, at the request of Matos Fernandes, who met with the mayors of the Algarve on the same day he visited the affected areas.
«Part of this money that will be given to the local authorities has already been spent, because the Councils have already started to work. I have no doubts that the works will all be completed in time for the summer. There are even some cases where the interventions were ready for the Easter weekend», said João Matos Fernandes.
The works are being carried out by the local authorities and inspection is the responsibility of the APA. And there is only money “for public infrastructure, as the owners of beach support know where they are and the risks they run”.
João Matos Fernandes guaranteed, on the other hand, that the damage "was not of great magnitude", having mainly affected "bridges and sidewalks along the coast", reinforcing the idea that he had already left two weeks ago: the storm Ema took sand, but those that followed, Félix and Gisele, "replaced part of that sand on the beaches."
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