Leiria alerts for lack of reconstruction support after storm

O mayor of Leiria, Gonçalo Lopes, today warned about the limitations of the Municipal Emergency Fund (FEM), arguing that recovering the infrastructure damaged by bad weather requires funding.

At the Afonso Lopes Vieira Secondary School in Leiria, one of the many schools in the municipality affected by the depression Kristin, on 28 January, Gonçalo Lopes, before the President of the Republic, António José Seguro, recalled that the damage to the school network “forced a large response”, having already been carried out “works in 110 schools”, work that will continue.

The mayor recalled that “the damage also affected other public service equipment”, with the municipality “investing in its recovery” in order not only to restore what existed, but to make them “safer and more resilient”.

“To achieve this goal, it is essential to guarantee the necessary resources for municipalities,” he noted, however, that the signs “are not encouraging, taking into account the limitations foreseen” in the FEM.

Gonçalo Lopes pointed out that “rebuilding the infrastructure affected requires funding to correct weaknesses and better protect populations”.

In the case of secondary school, the damage caused by the storm was about 300,000 euros.

On the investment of EUR 5.5 million (ME), financed by the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR), in the requalification of the educational institution, the mayor considered that “an inequality that lasted too long” is corrected.

“ For many years, the Afonso Lopes Vieira Secondary School has fulfilled its mission under physical conditions inferior to those of other secondary schools in the city,” he admitted, pointing out that “this requalification does justice to an educational community that had long deserved better conditions”.

The mayor also pointed out that this “is the school of the county where cultural diversity is manifested more strongly”, welcoming “more than a thousand students of 28 nationalities”.

“ This diversity is a wealth and a responsibility. To welcome those who arrive, teach a new language and ensure that each student finds their place requires competence and human sensitivity ", defended the mayor.

About the Professional School of Leiria, where the head of state inaugurated two specialized technological centers, Industrial and Informatics, the mayor pointed out that “since 1989, it has brought together the formation of the projects of life of young people and the needs of the local economy”.

In this case, the investment was 2.7 ME, also financed by the PRR, and the school suffered damage of about half a million euros with the bad weather that forced the municipal intervention.

For the mayor, “in an industrial region such as Leiria, vocational education is decisive for the qualification of young people and for the competitiveness of businesses”.

On 31 July, the Order was published in Diário da República, which allows municipalities affected by the disaster caused by the storms of the beginning of the year to apply for a maximum support of 60% of the proven damage through the FEM to recover damaged infrastructure.

The order allows applications for the “funding of the repair, reconstruction and replacement of public infrastructure and equipment affected by exceptional and serious meteorological phenomena occurring in the territories” covered by the disaster declaration.

This support is intended for municipalities, parishes and intermunicipal entities and applications can be submitted by 30 November.

This week, Gonçalo Lopes criticized the “extremely complex” process of applications to the FEM, arguing that “the form presents a level of complexity that makes it practically paralyze a large part” of the chamber, and that the percentage of support announced “is extremely insufficient for the extent of the damage that the municipality of Leiria and the municipalities affected have had”.