The PSD/Algarve demands that an “emergency and aid plan for farmers” be created, following news that reports of cuts of “70% of water for agriculture and 15% in each of the municipalities” in the Algarve, as a consequence of the prolonged drought and the increasing scarcity of water in the region.
Water cuts for agriculture and in Algarve municipalities are planned measures in the contingency plan that the Portuguese Environment Agency will activate, to address the lack of water in the Algarve, which will be presented in detail at the end of January.
The values mentioned by the Algarve social democrats were advanced by the TSF, in news that anticipated the limitations that will be imposed in the Algarve.
«What needs to be done is to compensate those who will watch their crops dry up, without the capacity and means to produce, but that doesn't solve the problem. Trees and crops will die, farms will go bankrupt and jobs will be lost. It's a desperate situation. An emergency plan is vital to save the affected activities», defended Cristóvão Norte, president of PSD/Algarve.
The president of the PSD/Algarve also considers that «it is imperative that a regional development plan be drawn up that balances water needs and availability. None of this was done. We have to have a region with an economic profile suited to its water availability».
«These cuts are the devastating result of the PS government's inaction over 8 years. There are no new dams, retention basins, transfer of the Pomarão, no requirement to repair the brutal losses of the desalination system. In 8 years, very little has been done and it is economic activities and people who will pay for it. And the price will be very high», he accused.
The same person in charge also states that «it is important that we all try to save water, it is a service we do for ourselves and the region»
The PSD Algarve highlighted «that Luís Montenegro has already committed to the advancement of the Foupana Dam and conveys to the people of the Algarve that water, along with health, housing and economic diversification, will be the main pillars of the regional program that will be submitted for consideration by the Algarve».
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