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Row erupts over firefighters' meal allowance fiddle

FirefighterA highly embarrassing row is developing between the Ministry of Internal Administration and the nation’s League of Firefighters over meal allowances and inflated expense claims that have been submitted by fire fighting forces.

In 2018, 57 financial audits were carried out at various of the country’s fire brigade units and in 19 of them, irregularities were detected which led to, "situations of replacement or regularisation of funds transferred by the National Civil Protection Authority."

The Ministry of Internal Administration is aware of the report submitted last week by its own inspectorate in the Mação fire in 2017 which shows that meal allowances were based on incorrectly and deliberately inflated fire fighter numbers.

The later 2018 report lists irregularities that are not related to fiddling the food allowance system but the Ministry has not revealed what these are.

In August 2017, several firefighters published photos and videos on social media that showed poor quality meals and the then Secretary of State for Internal Administration, Jorge Gomes, ordered the National Civil Protection Authority to conduct a survey on meals to firefighters involved in that month's serious fires.

This report reached the Ministry in December of that year and has remained an internal document. The report did trigger a suspension of food payments for 20-days due to clear discrepancies identified between the number of meals claimed by 12 fire fighting groups and the number of firefighters actually on the ground.

The Ministry decided generally to tighten up on expense claim procedures to make the verification of invoices, "more appropriate for the communication, monitoring and control of these expenses."

The spat started after the 2017 report which has open out into a war of words between the Portuguese Firemen's League and the Ministry.

More audits have followed and several irregularities have been detected.

On Friday, the firemens’ league, faced with more suspicion, threatened to stop distributing meals.

"The simplistic and hasty way now, once again, firefighters are targeted can not fail to arouse the firmest repudiation and protest by calling into question the honour and dignity of humanitarian associations, their leaders, commanders and firefighters," blasted the league’s chairman, Jaime Marta Soares.

The League says it is aware that no one is above the law and that it has never questioned the inspections and asks for proof that the numbers have been fiddled.

The Government has not yet responded to the league and the Attorney General's Office said that it recently has received the report on the 2017 fires in Mação, sent in by the Minister of Internal Administration, and that it is, "under analysis."

However this ends up, someone must now get the blame. The hope is that the firemen’s league, and any of its members, will be blameless but someone has been at it by fraudulently claiming for more meals that there are firemen at many incidents.

The Ministry is well aware of the ‘hero’ status of the nation’s firemen and it is not possible for what seems to be widespread fraud to have been organised at grass roots level.

It is more likely that the meal allowance system has been used for years to channel extra funds to local fire departments and, now that there has been an audit, something must be seen to be done.

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Comments  

0 #6 Darcy 2019-02-05 14:41
Elsa,
Still wondering if ELSA, can provide evidence regarding her claim that animals were left to burn to death, tied up or fenced in.
I did not read about this in any of the newspapers or TV, at the time of the fires, so wondering if this is a made up story.
0 #5 charly 2019-02-04 19:01
Darcy,
Everybody living in the Monchique can testify they saw or heard animals (all kinds) creaping and dying in the flames. Don't Always take for granted all matters "you think" can or might happened or all dreams you have in your sleep. Can be very tricky !!!
0 #4 Darcy 2019-02-04 18:16
Hope elsa can provide evidence regarding her claim that animals were left to burn to death, tied up or fenced in.
I don't think any emergency services would leave animals to die in this way.
0 #3 Elsa 2019-02-04 08:45
Yet again bringing attention to the absurdity of having a Civil Protection Authority that does not actually fight the fires: just mis-manages the fire fighters - including their lunch allowances - and directs them to outbreaks that concern important locals. Ignoring the concerns of the less important locals who, must flee leaving their homes and livestock to be destroyed. No doubt a painful agonising death for the animals tied up or fenced in.
-3 #2 charly 2019-02-03 19:16
Once again: we are not surprised ! These kind of fiddelings exist everywhere (army, police, camaras, and trough the whole administration).
These practices are part of the "Portugese culture" and will persist as long as "corruption is the red line in this country.
+5 #1 Denby 2019-02-03 17:34
Now that an audit has been carried out, it will identify that the fire fighters need extra resources for their department. These hardworking men and women should not have to resort to channelling funds from one sector to another.
This really should have been sorted out at department level before the audit was carried out to protect the integrity of these brave workers who rist their lives as part of their job.
I hope there is a speedy resolution to this by the department and the government.

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