The PSP of Madeira indicated today that the restriction on access in the parish of Curral das Freiras, denounced by the Union of Journalists, was carried out at the request of Civil Protection, in order to move and work without hindrance.
“We are in a position to confirm that there was indeed a restriction on access, at the express request of the Civil Protection, which needed freedom to operate and guarantee a security perimeter so that the resident population could remove their goods, feed their animals and that the most reluctant were prepared for emergency evacuation,” says the PSP, in a written response to the Lusa agency.
This situation occurred in the early hours of Saturday, adds the police, “meaning that there was a permanent police presence to assist Civil Protection personnel throughout the day.”
“The advance and retreat of the flames was inconstant, which is why the requests for collaboration from Civil Protection varied according to the danger and proximity of the flames,” explained a PSP source. As for the other impediment situation, which the Union of Journalists says occurred on Sunday, in Fajã dos Cardos, the PSP were quoted as saying that they would address this issue later. The Civil Protection requested that in the area where the media were located, only residents should remain, so that they could remove their goods and help those who needed it. Having anyone else at the site would have prevented the emergency services from doing their job in fighting the fire that was threatening to engulf the area.
On Thursday, the Madeira delegation of the Union of Journalists denounced, in a statement, what it classifies as “a climate of pressures and restrictions” in the activity of the professionals involved in covering the fire that broke out on the 14th of August.
The union indicates that on the 17th and 18th of August, journalists, photographers, and drone operators were presented from entering the parish of Curral das Freiras. According to the union structure, “there were clear indications by the PSP not to allow the media access to the site, and this difficulty was only overcome after several contacts with senior officials.”
“What this union does not understand is the double standards in the permission to pass on the road closed by PSP agents. They allowed a JPP deputy to circulate, in campaign action, and prevented journalists from passing by to carry out their activity: to inform,” reads a statement.
On this issue, the PSP states that, at the time the deputy was at the scene, the situation was not so serious, “and access to the media was not prohibited to travel to the same place where the parliamentarian was”.
In the statement released on Thursday, the union stresses that “the pressures also reach those responsible for the media, who are pressured to deny news that is later confirmed to be true. As in the case of the two Spanish water bombers.
“After the publication of the news, sources from the Regional Government rushed to deny the information in an attempt at ‘professional assassination,’ as stated by the director [of DN/Madeira], Ricardo Miguel Oliveira. Two hours later, it is Miguel Albuquerque himself, President of the Regional Government, who confirms the arrival of the two aerial means to Madeira,” says the union.
Questioned by Lusa, a source from the Secretariat of Health and Civil Protection said at the time that the executive did not deny the news regarding the Canadair planes, having only indicated that that information “needed confirmation,” since the decision process was still ongoing.
