Miguel Albuquerque and the Minister of Civil Protection will hear the question of the fires in the Madeiran Parliament

The President of the Madeiran Government, Miguel Albuquerque, and the regional Minister of Health and Civil Protection, Pedro Ramos, will be heard in the Madeiran Parliament regarding the fire that broke out on August 14, it was announced this Monday.

The decision was taken this Monday by the Specialized Committee for Health and Civil Protection of the Legislative Assembly of Madeira (ALM), following a request from the parliamentary group Juntos Pelo Povo (JPP).

The request received votes from supporters (two votes), the same number of votes from the PS, one from the CDS-PP and abstentions from four PSD deputies.

“Even today [segunda-feira] “I will sign the requests so that Miguel Albuquerque and Pedro Ramos are heard as soon as possible,” said the commission’s chairwoman, Lina Pereira (JPP), quoted in information published by the party.

The JPP notes that since the regional parliament is closed for recess and this is an exceptional situation, the ALM standing committee is obliged to request the presence of the president of the regional government and the regional secretary of health and civil protection.

“We have said many times that parliamentary hearings should not judge anyone, but there are political responsibilities that cannot be whitewashed, thrown under the carpet, and the decisions taken were hasty, inadequate and even to some extent unbearable in view of the suffering of the population and the deepening tragedy,” says Lina Pereira.

In his opinion, “when politicians take office, they have duties and responsibilities to the population, this responsibility is assumed on the first day of taking office, it cannot be discounted later, when the situation becomes less favorable.”

Given that the Madeira Legislative Assembly is the “appropriate place to monitor the government’s actions” and debate the issue, the parliamentarian argues that “after putting out the fire” it is “the right time to assess and determine responsibility”.

Defending the impossibility of “continuing to pretend that everything is fine”, Lina Pereira recalled that in recent years the fires in Madeira “have caused human casualties, devastation, suffering, loss of homes and personal property, as well as thousands of hectares of natural heritage”.

On August 20, in a statement, JPP leader Elvio Sousa said that “Miguel Albuquerque and Pedro Ramos must be held accountable” from a political point of view, as well as “for the high level of negligence, the obvious confusion and lack of timely decisions that seriously endanger the lives of the population and animals,” as well as the destruction of homes and seven thousand hectares of forest heritage.

The JPP stressed that Miguel Albuquerque (NSD) “returned on holiday to the beach of Porto Santo while Madeira was still burning, showing the greatest irresponsibility and insensitivity to the pain of the victims of the fires.”

The following day, on the sidelines of the ceremonial meeting dedicated to the Funchal Council Day, Miguel Albuquerque refuted the criticism, saying that he took responsibility and that his work should be judged by its results.

“We are currently assessing the fires based on the results, and these are the results,” he stressed, defending that it is necessary to “lower the alarmist rhetoric” and considering the situation to be “safe.”

The rural fire on the island of Madeira broke out on August 14 in the mountains of the municipality of Ribeira Brava, gradually spreading to the municipalities of Câmara de Lobos, Ponta do Sol and Santana. This Monday, 13 days later, the regional civil protection reported that the fire was “completely extinguished”.

According to the European Forest Fire Information System, the area of ​​burnt areas exceeds 5,045 hectares.

As the fire raged, authorities ordered nearly 200 people to leave their homes as a precaution and set up community shelters, but many residents returned home.

Firefighting efforts were hampered by wind and high temperatures, but there were no reports of injuries or destruction of homes or important public infrastructure, according to the regional government, although some small-scale agricultural production and forested areas were damaged.

The Judicial Police are investigating the cause of the fire, but the President of the Executive Power of Madeira, Miguel Albuquerque, said it was arson.