Luís Montenegro says that “everything possible was done to prevent” the passage of Kristin’s depression, refuting criticism of the Government’s actions in recent days. “We are facing a meteorological phenomenon never seen before”, says the Prime Minister. This Sunday, the number of fatalities rose to nine.
This Sunday’s Council of Ministers resulted in a set of measures for families and businesses affected by the Kristin depression. Luís Montenegro announced support amounting to 2.5 billion euros to combat the effects of a “never-before-seen meteorological phenomenon”.
After the meeting in São Bento, the head of Government announced that and that a “mission structure will be created to recover the most affected regions”operating in Leiria under the leadership of Paulo Fernandes, former mayor of Fundão. Then, he began to list the support measures:
- Families in “a situation of need or loss of income” will be able to receive help from Social Security (SS) of up to 537 euros per person and 1,057 euros per household.
- For the treasury of companies and other legal entities, a credit line will be created with an amount of 500 million euros.
- SS contribution exemption regime for companies affected in critical areas for the next six months, as well as a simplified layoff regime for three months.
- Line of credit worth one billion euros for the recovery of business structures without insurance coverage
- 90-day moratorium on loans to companies and credit for purchasing home ownership.
- Support for interventions to rebuild own and permanent housing, of up to 10 thousand euros, “without the need for documentation”.
- Transfer of 400 million from the State Budget for Portuguese Infrastructure for “the most urgent interventions”.
- 200 million for regional development commissions “to get the most necessary and urgent funding to municipalities”.
- 20 million for the recovery of cultural heritage
Luís Montenegro stated that “everything possible was done to prevent” the tragedy, after days of criticism, from parties and mayors, of the Government’s actions in responding to the Kristin depression.
This Sunday, the number of fatalities rose to nine due to the passage of Depression Kristin through Portugal. There are around 167 thousand E-Redes customers still without power, railway lines conditioned and roads closed, when IPMA forecasts point to a further worsening of the weather.
