“In the area of prevention, which was not in place before, local authorities have improved, as have the fire brigade, Civil Protection, the National Republican Guard and other entities. In terms of response, it is now more coordinated and a more coordinated response is being prepared for the future,” he said.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa took part this morning in the ceremony to honour the victims of the major fire that devastated the district of Vouzela, in northern Portugal, in 2017, which took place next to the commemorative monument. He also attended the Eucharistic celebration, presided over by the Bishop of Viseu, António Luciano, which took place in the Mother Church of Vouzela.
Leaving the religious ceremony, the country’s president stressed that “a lot” had been learned after the fires eight years ago and that a property register had even begun to be created. “But it is very late. The register is a big problem because no one knows exactly what the properties are, who they belong to, in many local authorities,” he added.
With regard to forest management, he pointed out that it had improved in some cases, “in others it took time to improve, precisely because of the registry and because families do not have the means to intervene”.
“It is beginning to be understood that local authorities need to have more powers, ownership is not enough, limited intervention is not enough. More powers to prevent and intervene, perhaps, because planning is not being respected,” he argued.
According to Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, it can be said that “things are very much better than they were in 2017,” but “they are still below what is expected in the coming years.”
“I think that some things have been done and these have been positive, both at local and national level, but there are things that have not been possible for bureaucratic and administrative reasons, due to the difficulties faced by small landowners in actually implementing what is essential for land use planning,” he claimed.
In his view, “we need to pick up the pace” so that the fires of 2017 or other less serious situations are not repeated, but “must be avoided in the future”.
“There are things that require a change in mentality, which in many cases is slow to change. Many landowners who are absent from their land, or who are present but lack the means, resisted the idea of greater intervention by local authorities,” he said.
The country’s president also told journalists that more funds are needed, in addition to more powers for local authorities to intervene.
It then became clear that what was set up as a prevention and response scheme still needs to be improved. We need to invest more in our fire brigades, in civil protection, we need to have a greater military role, we need to have even better intervention from the Republican Guard: all of this needs to be improved quickly,” he stressed.
Regarding the fact that it has not been proven, in general terms, that the 2017 fires were started deliberately, but rather the result of a combination of natural factors, after several surveys and proceedings, he said it was necessary to “think about how this can also be combated”.
“In the ability of the justice system to intervene quickly and effectively, because there are measures provided for in the law, namely those that limit the movement and mobility of those who were at some point associated with arson (…) or to make faster decisions. In short, we are learning over time, also in terms of punitive measures and the way the justice system and administrative authorities intervene, we are learning from year to year,” he concluded.
Platform with Lusa
