IL accuses government of failing to prevent and respond to Pedrogane tragedy

The president of the Liberal Initiative this Wednesday blamed the government for failing to prevent and respond to the major fires of 2017 and said well-managed forests in Portugal are run by private individuals.

Rui Rocha raised the topic in political statements at the plenary session of the Assembly of the Republic, recalling that Saturday marks six years since the fires that started in Pedrogane Grande and spread to several neighboring territories.

“In these fires, 64 people died, 254 were injured, 500 houses were destroyed or damaged, dozens of companies destroyed their facilities, 53,000 hectares were burned, and the damage amounted to about 500 million euros,” he lamented.

The leader of the IL admitted that on June 17 there were “extreme meteorological phenomena, but also other absolutely unjustified phenomena associated with incompetence, sloppiness, and in some cases nepotism.”

Rui Rocha accused the government of failing to prevent and making “ruinous deals” such as the Kamov helicopters or the Siresp emergency communications network.

“Also, not for prevention, socialist“ boys ”who had, for example, sports categories, were appointed to civil protection structures,” he criticized.

The IL leader felt that the government “also did not respond to the tragedy” of these 2017 fires, deploring that then Interior Minister Constanza Urbano de Sousa did not resign “until the President of the Republic imposes on himself” or misuse of people’s money for the renovation of houses.

The PSD, through Vice President João Moura, supported the diagnosis and deplored what the current government called “the normalization of wildfires”, while the Socialist MP Francisco Pereira pointed to increased human and combat resources, as well as a greater emphasis on prevention.

IL was asked to present solutions: PCP asked for a stronger staff at the Institute for Conservation, Chega called for support for its bill to apply the criminal terrorism framework to repeat arsonists, and Free to ask if liberals allow the principle of private property to be relaxed in public management of a part of the forest .

In response, Rui Rocha argued for the need for “real reform of the state” to place civil servants “where they are needed” and refused to compromise on a tightening of the penitentiary system.

“Seizure of property from those who own it in order to transfer it to the state, when the state does not provide forest management, does not make sense. If the state can’t manage what it has, what’s the point of bringing more forest and territory to the state?” the IL leader asked.

In response to a statement by Livre’s sole deputy, Rui Tavares, Rui Rocha went even further and stated that “forests that are well managed in Portugal belong to private individuals, economic groups that exploit them with a sense of responsibility and with a sense, obviously also, of profitability” .

Previously, the PSD brought to the plenary session the issue of the Day of the Azores, celebrated on May 29, which prompted the Social Democrat Paulo Moniz to accuse the PS government of “absolute discrimination” against this autonomous region only because the executive branch of the archipelago is no longer socialist. .

In response, PS MP Sergio Avila assured that the current government “fully complies with the regional finance law” and believes that the discontent felt in the Azores is the result of PSD management (in coalition with CDS-PP and PPM).

Relations with Chega, who signed a parliamentary agreement with the government in the Azores, were also discussed: MP Rita Matias urged the PSD to be a “good person and fulfill its obligations” with this party, and Ruy Tavares asked if the model should be repeated on the mainland .

“The Azores have autonomy and the regional elections have dictated this political format, let’s not confuse or offer ‘a priori’ solutions that can only be the result of what could have been a popular vote,” responded Social Democrat Paulo Moniz.