PS Madeira declared this Monday that it will not allow the regional government (PSD), with the parliamentary support of the CDS-PP, to whitewash the mistakes made during the fire that raged in the region for 13 days.
“We can guarantee the people of Madeira that we will not allow the regional government, the PSD and the SDS to whitewash the mistakes that have been made, not only in these fires, due to the lack of coordination, clarity and timely intervention. We will denounce all the propaganda and parallel realities that this government is already preparing to make, whitewashing everything with the help of the SDS and the right-wing parties,” said the Socialist MP Rui Caetano.
At a press conference in Funchal, the parliamentarian assured that the PS will continue to take a “demanding position and closely monitor the government’s activities, questioning the options, questioning the strategic mistakes.”
“We have been presenting proposals for many years, but they have all been defeated by the SDP and SDS. Without any shame, they have failed, and now they are presenting some of them that are identical to those already presented by the Socialist Party,” he criticized.
Speaking about a number of proposals presented in this area, Rui Caetano highlighted the assessment by the independent technical monitoring laboratory of the fires that have occurred in Madeira in recent years.
This proposal by the PS was rejected in 2020 by the SDP and SDS, he recalled, emphasizing that the centrists are now putting forward a similar initiative.
“This demonstrates the position of the SDS, which is only concerned with the square metre of its party and not with the defence of Madeirans and the region’s territory,” the socialist noted, adding that if the PS measures had been approved, “the consequences of the fires would have been different.”
“The Socialist Party has not just woken up to this problem of managing our territory, territorial planning and the problem of fires, unlike the CDS, which seems to have woken up now,” he stressed.
Rui Caetano also stressed that this year’s fire, which broke out on August 14 and burned for 13 days, burned more than 5,100 hectares, while over the past 18 years, more than 43,000 hectares have burned.
“Something is not working. We need to rethink the model for protecting our forest and planning our territory,” he insisted.
The PS MP said that “it is time for the regional government to take responsibility and, instead of using a discourse of arrogance and haughtiness, to adopt a ‘humble pose’ and welcome proposals from experts, civil society and political parties to ‘find better ways to protect the forest’.”
“We cannot continue to accept this way of managing the fate of Madeira, refusing to participate in the National Plan for the Integrated Management of Rural Fires, refusing to provide immediate assistance when needed,” he said.
A 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.
On August 26, 13 days later, the regional civil defense reported that the fire was “completely extinguished.”
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.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Sandra Hansen, a news website Author and Reporter for 24 News Reporters. I have over 7 years of experience in the journalism field, with an extensive background in politics and political science. My passion is to tell stories that are important to people around the globe and to engage readers with compelling content.