The Minister of Territorial Cohesion admitted this Monday that the provision of support for damage caused by bad weather in December 2022 and January was late, and called for thinking about a new model for financing these situations.
“It was late, that’s true. You don’t come up with 50 million euros overnight. Only budget changes can imagine that [elas] mean. It was late, but we can’t sit back and say that’s how it is. This can’t be true. We need to respond quickly to events that, unfortunately, will occur more often and always with greater seriousness,” said Ana Abrunosa.
The Minister of Territorial Cohesion spoke at the headquarters of the Intermunicipal Community (CIM) of Alto Minho in Ponte de Lima during a ceremony to approve contracts for the replacement of municipal equipment and infrastructure in the 50 municipalities of the Northern Region affected by natural disasters. December 2022 and January floods.
In 50 municipalities, the cost of damages considered acceptable is 21 million euros, of which the state will contribute 11 million euros.
The Ministry of Territorial Unity has also issued special notices to support affected businesses. 32 companies applied for support worth four million euros.
Ana Abrunosa, responding to CIM President Alto Miño, who called the government’s support “belated and short-lived”, said that in the state budget the cost of the municipal emergency fund had doubled from three to six million euros, but warned that this amount, given the “frequency and seriousness » bad weather should not be enough.
“We see what’s happening [mau tempo dos últimos dias]. We need to speed up another fund or another way to do it faster,” he stressed.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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