CHEGA accuses government of “having learnt nothing” from fires of 2017
Following another blistering attack by right-wing CHEGA, the government has stressed today that “all means” were on the ground fighting fires in the 3rd week of September, and “everything will be done” to improve and correct any errors that come to be identified.
Secretary of State for Civil Protection Paulo Simões Ribeiro stressed in the ‘urgent debate’ called by CHEGA that “this government has done everything and will do everything to improve everything that should and can be improved and will do everything to learn from any mistakes that are identified and then correct them.”
Analysis of reports on the fires will “allow us to identify positive aspects and those that should be improved,” he assured – reiterating that the 2024 firefighting plan was “as ready as possible” during the most critical phase, which meant “the greatest commitment of resources ever and (which) prevented the worst from happening given the severity of the meteorological conditions and the number of ignitions”.
Paulo Simões Ribeiro recalled that between September 15 and 19, there were “more than 1,000 ignitions, 400 of which occurred at night. These figures alone represent the effort and stress” at play.
Ribeiro added that 35% of the rural fires recorded this year were caused by arson, which translated into 80,000 hectares of burnt area.
Nine people died, and 175 were injured as a result of fires that hit the northern and central regions of the country in the third week of September. The National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority excludes from this count two civilians who died of heart failure (due to the stress of either fighting or fleeing the fires).
According to the European Copernicus system, the fires in the 3rd week of September destroyed dozens of houses, burning over 135,000 hectares of land.
Right-wing CHEGA accused the current government – and previous PS executives – of having “learnt nothing” from the deadly conflagrations of 2017 (when over 100 people died), advocating much stiffer penalties for arsonists.
At the opening of debate, CHEGA’s Rita Matias said: “Those responsible in the PS and PSD who have led the country to this state over the last 50 years should be here saying sorry: we failed in prevention, we failed in distribution, we failed in providing resources” .
Like her party leader, Rita Matias advocated “heavy-handedness” for those who cause fires, increased the penalties, as well as restrictions on the sale of burnt wood, and improved supervision of pre fire season land clearing.
Later on, Chega’s Patrícia Carvalho indicated that the party seeks to succeed in getting arsonists considered terrorists – and punished along the same lines.
But all in all, MPs agreed – more does need to be done in the form of fire prevention, and yes, there are aspects that may be seen not to have gone quite as well as they should have gone.
Discounting the inflammatory speeches, João Almeida for CDS-PP (a former secretary for internal administration) took the middle line: “We have to realise that everything didn’t go well” and now “take stock and make the necessary corrections” in time for next year’s firefighting season.
Issues that Almeida believes were not dealt with in good time included “firefighters’ careers, rapid attrition, pension, insurance and social compensation” – all areas in which the government has since said it will be acting following this year’s firefighting horrorshow.
Source material: LUSA
