LESS THAN 10 per cent of lost and found items publicised on a new official website are claimed and returned to their owners.
Since the Internal Affairs Ministry, Ministério da Administração Interna, started operating the site at the beginning of the year, around 17,000 items and more than 20,000 documents have been registered.
A report released last week says that from January 31 to August 31, just 1,620 items and less than 3,000 documents have been claimed by their owners.
A total of 150 objects are registered daily on the online database, the report says.
Information about lost and found items is provided by the police forces from all over the country.
They are kept for one year and if unclaimed, the Ministry sells the property at auctions, with the money raised going to the state.
For more information, please visit http://perdidoseachados.mai.gov.pt
