«The Algarve is one of the regions most exposed to climate change – it is exposed to the risk of coastal erosion, drought, fire», Prime Minister António Costa warned this Saturday, at the inauguration of the Civil Protection Logistic Support Base (BAL), in Quarteira.
The head of Government underlined that "the process of climate change has been creating new risks and aggravating pre-existing risks", and it is necessary to be attentive, especially in regions such as the Algarve.
António Costa, who had already been in Loulé an hour before, to inaugurate another facility – the building of the Regional Emergency and Civil Protection Command (CREPC) of the Algarve – stressed that «Civil Protection does not exist just to fight forest fires, it exists essentially to develop a culture of safety, based on prevention, protection and reaction to situations of catastrophe, whatever their nature».
Regarding the fires, the head of Government expressed his satisfaction at having «finally the approval of the Court of Auditors», allowing that, «at this moment», a series of works to implement the plan is already «underway throughout the country. of interruption bands, with a total value of 11 million euros'.
Recalling that there has been an “effort to qualify our structure”, Costa added that “a great effort has also been made in the last decade, in the qualification, equipment, training and modernization of the different agents of civil protection”. An example of this is the inauguration of CREPC, in Loulé, which is «the first Regional Command that the country has».
As for the Quarteira Logistics Base (BAL), the prime minister explained that it will serve "not only the firefighters in the region, but in particular the reinforcement groups that are deployed to support the region, in some catastrophe situation."
Vítor Aleixo, mayor of Loulé, added that this BAL will have the capacity to accommodate 120 workers. "The building's new functions will be of added value to Quarteira," said the mayor, in particular because the structure "reinforces the sense of security of residents and tourists."
More directly, there is another benefit for the city of Quarteira: it is that «the Municipal Firefighters, from today, will have decent facilities here», announced the mayor.
In total, the CREPC do Algarve, in Loulé, and the BAL, in Quarteira, equipment with a "regional dimension", represent an investment of around 2,6 million euros, resulting, as the Minister of Internal Affairs, from a “partnership” between the Municipality of Loulé, the central administration and European funds.
And why all this effort in the Algarve, a region that is even one of the least populated in the country?
It was the prime minister himself who answered this question in his speech.
«Tourism is an economic activity that has an extraordinary capacity to mobilize the entire national economic chain. More tourism means more agriculture, more industrial activity, from the construction industry, more activity in the area of services, whether in transport, in travel agencies, in any commercial activity. And it's not just here in the Algarve. Because Algarve Tourism is part of a whole of the country's economy».
For Tourism to continue to grow and assert its importance in the national economy, «the value of security is absolutely essential».
Because, said António Costa, «the growth of our tourism is not only due to the excellence of our beaches, the beauty of our mountains, our gastronomy, the friendliness of the Portuguese and, in particular, the Algarve, but also to another a factor that is not irrelevant for those who have to decide where they will spend their holidays: it is security».
Therefore, he added, "when we are, today, investing in security, we are also investing in the economic and social development of the entire region."
«If we want an Algarve that is a region 365 days a year and not just that fortnight of summer holidays, we have to understand that the diversification of the tourism offer in the region cannot be based only on sun and beach. There are other features that this region has to take advantage of and which are fundamental. For this, the preservation of its natural resources, namely the Algarve mountains, is essential. Because this is what offers a new Nature Tourism activity, which is a tourism that works, in fact, in the low season of sun and beach tourism», also highlighted the head of the Government.
In other words, if you want an Algarve that works throughout the year, also betting on nature tourism, which is «what most contributes to the development and enhancement of endogenous resources, the barrocal and the mountains», we must also bet on prevention, to prevent the disappearance of territories and landscapes that attract tourists.
"The valorization of endogenous resources is the best way to have a territory that is not unoccupied, on the contrary, it is populated, and this is the best guarantee of prevention and valorization of this heritage, which cannot be a threat when it burns, has of being one more factor contributing to the enrichment of the Algarve», concluded Prime Minister António Costa.
The Head of Government, accompanied by the Minister of Internal Administration and the three Algarve Secretaries of State – Jamila Madeira, José Apolinário and Jorge Botelho -, was in the Algarve today to preside over the ceremonies of the International Civil Protection Day (which is marked tomorrow). The ceremonies included the inauguration of two new infrastructures of the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority, the CREPC do Algarve, located in the «security citadel» of Loulé, and the BAL, in Quarteira.
CREPC's new facilities, where 1,25 million euros were invested, will add the command of emergency operations, civil protection and relief, the institutional and operational coordination of the regional Civil Protection structure, the integrated command of all bodies of firefighters and the management of emergency resources and resources.
BAL, which represents an investment of 1,6 million euros, will support emergency, protection and relief operations, with the capacity to store equipment, supply and park reinforcement means, as well as the installation of a response force. Loulé Municipal Fire Department, with assistance, firefighting and medical emergency services.
Investment in the two structures amounted to 2,6 million euros, supported by 85% by community funds, with the Chamber of Loulé secured the remaining 15%.
Photos: Elisabete Rodrigues | Sul Informação
Comments