Miguel Albuquerque said today that the authorities are already surveying the damage caused by the fires of the last few days, which hit Ribeira Brava, Calheta, Porto Moniz, and Câmara de Lobos.
“At the moment, we are surveying the situation, investigating the aftermath, and assessing the damage, and then we can return to normality,” he said during a visit to Porto Moniz.
Absent in recent days from Madeira, the President of the Regional Government arrived today in the Region and has been on the ground assessing the impact of the fire.
Regarding the help sent from Lisbon, Albuquerque thanked but disagreed that the request was late. It was done when the situation “got a little more out of control, from the point of view of the fire, because from the point of view of containing the fires, everything was carried out effectively on the part of our firefighters and emergency teams,” he said.
Although Madeira has a force of more than 700 firefighters, the response on the ground was just over a hundred simultaneous operatives, but Miguel Albuquerque defends the options taken.
“People need to understand that when we are not together with the houses, we are fighting the fire upstream,” he said, announcing that new investments will be needed in the future in the face of climate change.
“In my political career, I’ve been through more than 20 serious fires,” but now, with climate change, “we’re going to have to make big investments, especially in creating more firebreaks, and more fire zones.”
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
