The World Today
MADRID, 21 (EUROPA PRESS)
The Portuguese government approved a package of 45 measures this Thursday to help people and businesses affected by the wave of wildfires recover as quickly as possible. Prime Minister Luís Montenegro said efforts do not require declaring a state of emergency, as some political parties and local governments had been demanding.
"The country is in shock," Montenegro acknowledged during a statement in which he promised that his government will do "everything possible" to try to "minimize the suffering" of those who have personally endured the ravages of the flames.
At the end of an extraordinary Council of Ministers meeting held in the city of Viseu, the Portuguese Prime Minister admitted that, despite the fact that these fires have been the subject of the largest response effort in history, "not everything went well," reported the public television channel RTP.
In this regard, he argued that, despite not always being present on the ground, the priority has been the protection of the population and homes, and he raised the need to conduct an assessment to examine, among other things, possible prevention policies that would prevent the current situation from reaching such extremes.
The new measures include increased medical care in the fire-affected areas and aid to families and businesses, for example, to facilitate and speed up reconstruction. The government has promised to cover 100 percent of the costs for homes worth up to €250,000.
Furthermore, he has put on the table a new legislative tool to expedite recovery measures, which would be activated with a simple resolution from the Council of Ministers.
