The Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) deputy Ricardo Lume has presented a draft resolution to be discussed and voted on this week at the Plenary of the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of Madeira, which advocates the undertaking of a technical-scientific study to identify the factors and situations that amplified the destructive force of the storm which battered the north of the island on the 24th and 25th of December.
In a statement, he said “on the 24th and 25th of December 2020, the parishes of Boaventura and Ponta Delgada, in the municipality of São Vicente, and the parish of Arco de São Jorge, in the municipality of Santana, were particularly affected by a severe weather, which resulted in major material damages and losses to both private property and public infrastructures. Furthermore, the heavy and irregular rainfall recorded between neighbouring municipalities and parishes in the north of island may have aggravated factors, with possible implications for increasing the vulnerability to which the populations were exposed, and which potentially jeopardised their security.”
The PCP believes that “there may be links within the weather conditions that need to be analysed as other factors such as large volumes of water, mud and other residues, which may have aggravated the destructive force of the storm.”
In addition, the PCP proposes that the Regional Government guarantees “that the technical-scientific study should be completed within a maximum period of six months after the date of approval and that the findings should be sent to the Regions Autonomous Parliament no later than thirty days after its conclusion.”
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
