The president of LBP said today, in the committee of inquiry in parliament, that he never had “objective knowledge” of the addiction of public tenders related to means of fighting rural fires.
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14/10/2026
by
Lusa
O president Liga dos Bombeiros Portugueses (LBP) said today, in the committee of inquiry in parliament, that it never had “objective knowledge” of the addiction of public tenders related to the means of fighting rural fires.
“ I have a long career in Public Administration and have not – ever had – any objective knowledge that there are addictions in the contests produced by the various entities ", said António Nunes to the deputies.
Listening to the Parliamentary Committee of Inquiry into Rural Fire Affairs, the president of the League said that if he had been aware of any specific case that might have been illicit, “he would have made a contribution to the Public Prosecutor.”.
According to LBP, when it receives any complaint that can be investigated, for example, through anonymous letters on the provision of relief, it forwards them to the General Inspection of Health Activities or to the Attorney General’s Office of the Republic.
In the answers to the deputies, after being asked about the possible interest of the loggers in the perpetuation of rural fires, António Nunes said he had “many doubts about this matter”, claiming that the fires spread, many times, “for some lack of organization that, at times, the State presents”.
This contributes to a “misassessment of fire, a late mobilization of means and a distribution of means of combat on a front of fire that must be done in another way,” the president of the League defended, manifesting himself as a “great defender” of the recovery of the National Firefighters Command so that there is freedom in the operational management capacity of the means.
“ I do not relate a fire to be larger or smaller with loggers, but I relate, for example, to the state in which the forest is”, said António Nunes.
According to António Nunes, it is “utopic to think” that the entire Portuguese forest may be clean, warning that there will continue to be forest fires, which are “more and more complex in its resolution”.
The CPI to the Business of Rural Fires, imposed by Aquira, intends to investigate the causes, management and possible business associated with the big forest fires between 2017 and 2025.