Paulo Novais / LUSA
Company affected by the wind of Depression Kristin, Figueira da Foz
“There are people who try, remove bars from the wall to see if they have help from the State, even when it is not due.”
The Minister of Economy said in Sobral de Monte Agraço that requests for support have already been received from four thousand companies, which declared almost one billion euros in losses caused by the bad weather.
“In terms of companies, there are already many applications, we are talking about more than four thousand companies who applied, at a value that is already reaching billion eurosnow exceeds 900 million, and are already in the companies’ accounts more than 200 processes”, stated Manuel Castro Almeida.
Regarding damage to own homes, more than 11 thousand support requestshe added.
“Payments have already started to be made by both the CCDR[CommissionforRegionalCoordinationandDevelopment)CentroandtheCCDRofLisbonandValedoTejo[ComissãodeCoordenaçãoeDesenvolvimentoRegional)CentroquerpelaCCDRdeLisboaeValedoTejo
“We gave priority, evidently, at people, then at factories, where people’s jobs are, but now is the time to be able to assess the many losses that chambers they had,” he explained.
These entities, according to the official, have also started to analyze and pay the first requests for support made by the municipalities.
However, many of them are still carrying out survey of lossesas are the cases of Arruda dos Vinhos and Sobral de Monte Agraço, municipalities in the Lisbon district that the governor visited today.
During his visit, Manuel Castro Almeida was able to see the “enormous losses” em roads, water and sanitation networks and in some public facilities, which are “incompatible with municipal budgets”.
“We are going to have to help. And we are now seeing what are the fairest and most equitable terms to be able to provide the help that the municipalities need”, he highlighted, adding that the registration forms for the municipalities are now available.
The ruler guaranteed “justice e equity” in the analysis of requests from each municipality.
The “abuses”
The Economy Minister admitted that, amid this scenario, there have been abuses in requests for financial support. I didn’t say how many but there have been.
“We have to be supporting those who need it, We cannot support anyone who wants to abuse this situation at the most different levels. When they report damage to their homes, the damage consists of a crack in the wall. Now, it is necessary to see whether this crack in the wall is damage that justifies State intervention or not”.
Manuel de Castro Almeida reinforced: “And we have to be careful, because sometimes There are people who try, take the bar off the wall to see if there is help from the Stateeven when it is not due. There won’t be many cases, I just wanted to raise awareness of this situation and dissuade those people who are thinking about abusing”.
With so much work in city halls, the supervision may have flaws: “Up to 5 thousand euros is based solely on the photograph. Starting at R$5,000, city halls must carry out an inspectiongo to the location. The city councils that have to carry out these inspections of houses are full of tasks. Their technicians are dealing with water problems, road problems, building problems and are finding it difficult to quickly carry out these inspections.”
