Castro Almeida, Minister of Economy and Territorial Cohesion, said this Monday, February 2, that construction companies will concentrate workers in the Central region who were in other parts of the country, to rebuild areas affected by bad weather.
“There is already a shortage of labor in the construction sector throughout the country. Despite this, I think the entire country feels solidarity with what is happening here and, therefore, the large construction companies that were here today showed their willingness to bring workers who were working in other regions and who will be concentrated here in the Central region”, stated Castro Almeida.
The government official was speaking after a meeting, in Leiria, with the Minister of Infrastructure, several secretaries of State, construction companies, business associations, the president of the Central Regional Coordination and Development Commission, several intermunicipal communities, the Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation (IAPMEI), the presidents of the metropolitan areas of Lisbon and Porto, and the person responsible for the Mission Structure for the Recovery of Areas Affected by the Kristin depression.
According to the minister, “this means that some work will be left behind, will be delayed”, but “it is inevitable that this will be the case”.
“The notion conveyed by construction companies is that there will be enough people to do the work,” he said.
Castro Almeida said that the meeting also discussed how to take the recovery of buildings to the ground, but, mainly, “avoid further degradation of the damage that has already been done”.
In this sense, he highlighted the need for “an emergency intervention to prevent the worsening of what already exists”, explaining that this will be supported by the State.
The official added that there was also talk about “ways to prevent any price speculation that begins to emerge and to make necessary supplies” of the necessary materials and equipment.
Asked about how long it will take to rebuild this region, Castro Almeida replied “many, many months of work, because there are structures that were almost completely destroyed”.
“It’s like building again”, he declared, reiterating that the losses will be more than two billion euros.
Nine people have died since last week following bad weather. Civil Protection recorded five deaths directly associated with the passage of the Kristin depression and the Câmara da Marinha Grande announced another fatality, to which were then added three deaths recorded due to falls from roofs (during repairs) or poisoning originating from a generator.
The total or partial destruction of homes, businesses and equipment, falling trees and structures, cuts or restrictions on roads and transport services, especially railway lines, the closure of schools and power, water and communications cuts are the main material consequences of the storm, which caused hundreds of injuries and displacement.
Leiria, Coimbra and Santarém are the districts with the most damage.
The Government declared a state of calamity until next Sunday for 69 municipalities and announced a package of support measures of up to 2.5 billion euros.
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