The president of the Audit and Control Committee of the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) warned this Tuesday, February 3, in the Assembly of the Republic, that it is not possible to “count on the money” from the plan to address the impact caused by bad weather.
“We cannot count on money from the PRR to help with these disasters”, stated António Ferreira dos Santos, in a parliamentary hearing at the Economy and Territorial Cohesion committee.
Earlier in the hearing, the president of the PRR Audit and Control Committee had considered that it was “difficult” to use PRR funds for the impacts of bad weather, since the plan ends in August and “it is too late for any reprogramming”.
Ten 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 added four 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.
The PRR, which has an execution period until 2026, intends to implement a set of reforms and investments with a view to recovering economic growth.
In addition to having the objective of repairing the damage caused by covid-19, this plan aims to support investments and generate jobs.
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