António Pedro Santos / Lusa
People walk in darkness through the interior of the Ribeira Market
Government will ask for European audit. It was an unexpected crisis that was not originated in Portugal, reinforced the prime minister.
The government will create an independent technical committee and ask for a European audit To evaluate the electrical systems of the countries affected by Monday, the Prime Minister announced on Tuesday.
“We will not save efforts on the clarifications in the face of a serious problem that had no origin in Portugal,” he said.
Luís Montenegro He spoke in the middle of the second extraordinary meeting of the Council of Ministers in two days, at the Prime Minister’s official residence in São Bento, Lisbon, after the widespread cut in the electric supply he affected Portugal and Spain on Monday.
The Prime Minister argued that there is always the possibility of improving procedures in crises such as Monday’s blackout, but considered that the country’s response was “highly positive” and that the Civil Protection “worked very well”. But he shot, “We will make a rigorous assessment of this () point of view to overcome communication constraints.”
Regarding communication, and about the absence of SMS, the Prime Minister explained the government’s priority: “Civil Protection issued SMS At 5 pm, but people received at 20hor later – which shows that the Government was right to privilege the use of radios and communication bodies“.
“If you ask me if things could have worked better? We are always in time to improve procedures, but I want to mark: Portugal had a very positive reaction To a situation that was very serious, unpublished and unexpected, ”he said.
Luís Montenegro praised the entities and professionals who were on the ground: “ effort and aid They were remarkable and it is also the guarantee that we are prepared to live less good days. ”
The government leader in dismissal stressed that “the problem is not about the lack of production and distribution capacity in Portugal ”.
The statement of energy crisis will not be prolonged: it ends at 11:59 pm today, Tuesday.
