With roughly 167,000 households still without power in the centre, the mayor of Marinha Grande – another area catastrophically battered by Storm Kristin last Wednesday – is calling for a ‘simplified lay off scheme’ to help companies in the area which are already falling behind on wage payments.
Talking to Lusa, Paulo Vicente has explained that “the storm occurred on Wednesday January 28, but several residents have already told me that they did not receive their January salary – companies were unable to process them and now they are grappling with costs” of the destruction.
The molds industry, one of the main industries in the region, has many contracts that, if not fulfilled, will result in heavy fines, he added.
“What I’m asking the government for is a simplified ‘layoff’ scheme to protect workers and companies struggling with deliveries,” said Vicente.
Marinha Grande is a municipality with several industrial centers. According to the National Institute of Statistics, in 2022 there were 4,913 companies, and most of the population works in these companies.
Meantime, Paulo Vicente has also addressed the issue of lack of water. He claims the looting of electric cables is one of the reasons for it. The cables were connecting pumping stations to generators.
Security is one of the population’s concerns, albeit yesterday PSP and GNR police were reinforced in the area, he said.
Marinha Grande was one of the hardest hit by Storm Kristin, adds Lusa. Four days after the storm, lines of people can be seen at public fountains filling water jugs, while downed power lines and uprooted trees in gardens and parks remain where they fell.
There is still so much to fix – while the roadmap on how the government intends to get there has yet to be explained.
Source: LUSA
