Prime Minister Luis Montenegro this Friday called on agents involved in firefighting to develop a spirit of cooperation, mutual assistance and coordination in the fight against fires.
Addressing firefighters, authorities, security authorities, the armed forces and the President of the National Emergency Management and Civil Protection Authority (ANEPC) present in Pombal for the handover ceremony of the new fire engines, Luis Montenegro left a “very, very strong statement.” a call to develop a spirit of cooperation, mutual assistance and coordination.”
Those in charge and the agents involved in the fire-fighting apparatus must be “all concerned not with our own vision and our own particular field of action” but “with that which is a purpose which is above any of us and any of the institutions which any of us represents” , he noted.
Comparing the institutions and means involved in fighting fires with the political structure, Montenegro called for the application of the philosophy that he claims to advocate in relation to the executive branch he leads: “The government also does not decide everything and is not exclusive in determining public policies and related guidelines.”
A few days before the start of summer and the period of greatest fire danger, the Prime Minister emphasized the need for the unification of Portugal.
“We need to coordinate our actions and coordinate with us the institutions and people of Portugal; we need to take what is surely the noblest action we can all achieve: the common good” to “reduce the risk to those who can survive emergencies, reduce the impact that these episodes can have” and “strengthen the sense security for each of us,” he said.
Calling those present at the ceremony, Luis Montenegro reminded that his own act “is an important component of the life of every Portuguese.”
“There are those who are affected by serious events waiting for us, but there are many – I would say all – who, if they are not in such circumstances, are afraid every day that they may be. And they want to have peace of mind knowing that we may be there in the moment when it is needed,” he concluded.
This Friday in Pombal, ANEPC delivered 15 forest fire engines to the volunteer fire brigades in Abrantes, Alcutim, Almodóvar, Cercal do Tejo, Grandola, Vinhaes, Loule, Macedo de Cavaleiros, Mora, Pombal, Sabugal, Santiago do Cacem , Sines, Torrao and Vila Nova de Milfontes.
Ten are forest fire engines (VFCI) and five forest tactical tanks (VTTF), acquired under the “More Forest – Fire Prevention and Control Reform” program of the Recovery and Resilience Plan (with European funding).
Five command vehicles were also handed over to the ANEPC operational structure, which is the second batch of vehicles supplied to the fire department out of the 81 vehicles procured under the RDP.
According to ANEPC, announced in Pombal, this is the “largest ever distribution of fire trucks.”
According to the department’s president, Duarte Costa, “since 2012, the state has not allocated a vehicle package to fire departments, and since 2007, it has not distributed ANEPC operational vehicles.”