The Left Bloc today presented a draft resolution to parliament that recommended that the government "urgently adopts a simplified procedure to support the victims of the fires that occurred in the Monchique, Silves, Portimão and Odemira Councils in August of this year, together with the municipalities, to ensure that the affected population and the victims are informed quickly about procedures for accessing the necessary support and that these measures are disseminated through the local channels available."
The party said that its parliamentary initiative, "follows on from the meetings held by Algarve MP, João Vasconcelos, on 1 and 2 October with the Ajuda Monchique Platform, the Presidents of the Town Councils of Alferce and Monchique and with the Mayor of Monchique."
It is two months since the fires destroyed 27,000 hectares of forest and farmland, so the Bloquistas consider it, "unacceptable that people and companies have not yet received the necessary support and aid from the central administration."
Were it not for the action and support from volunteers, families, associations, Councils and other entities, "the situation would be much more desolate and the difficulties much more serious."
Among the problems identified has been the lack of official, centralised information, "with clear and transparent criteria, accessible to all, to obtain official support."
Applications for the PDR 2020 Program to restore productive potential, "is a long and bureaucratic process, leading many applicants to give up. Many victims of the fires are demotivated and in despair.
“There is a register of people and companies affected by fires that are not covered by government support programmes. This covers access to housing, drinking water, energy and income, among others."
For the victims that have no family support, the complexity of the process “eventually excludes them from all possible State support.”
The Left Bloc considers it, "essential to support, urgently and through a simplified procedure, all the victims affected by the August fires in those places that were affected, to rebuild their houses and to replace their equipment and to restore the productive potential of these areas."
This Left Bloc initiative follows one presented on September 28, in which it demanded that the victims of these fires be given the same support measures as were assigned to the victims of the forest fires last year.
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