The mayor of Leiria accused the Government of having handed over to the local authorities the inspections of applications for the reconstruction of houses following the bad weather without questioning whether they were suitable.
“We were thrown to the front line to solve a problem without being asked if we were capable, nor negotiated with us on how to do it. People rushed to make their requests, because they need money, and now I can’t analyze it as quickly as the Government said it had to be analyzed. If they wanted to analyze with that speed, they would have had that responsibility”, stated Gonçalo Lopes, arguing that “the Government announced something that is impossible to fulfill without having spoken” with the local authorities.
Financial support to repair the damage caused by the Kristin depression in homes is granted within a maximum period of three working days for expenses up to five thousand euros (with photographs), which do not require an inspection, and within 15 working days for the remainder.
On the other hand, the mayor added that “submission forms are being systematically changed, requirements are changing every day”, giving the example of declaring no debt.
“They ask that the process not be bureaucratic and they are making it bureaucratic, which makes the chambers have more work”, he criticized.
According to Gonçalo Lopes, the Municipality of Leiria “currently has 30% of applications from this entire region, from the entire affected space, which are six thousand applications”, and has 10 people in Urban Planning.
The mayor explained that he had contacted experts and forensic companies to work for the Chamber, without success, because they are working for insurance, and he also contacted insurance companies asking if they could spare experts. Without success, either.
“Once again, we were left with a problem. But it was not a negotiated problem, it was imposed”, maintained.
On Wednesday, the municipality sent letters to councils that supported Leiria shortly after the impact of the Kristin depression, announcing that the municipality is available to “receive people for a week, two weeks, three weeks, however long it takes to not harm” them, offering, in exchange, accommodation and meals to technicians, especially engineering, to participate in the expert reports.
There follows a challenge for all higher education that includes civil engineering, so that teachers and students “can help with the informal analysis of some of these processes”, continued Gonçalo Lopes.
Adding that the municipality already has “a few dozen engineers and architects wanting to participate” in this work, within the scope of the agreement with the respective professional orders with the Intermunicipal Community of the Leiria Region, the objective is to “expand this involvement”, to make this process “faster”.
Otherwise, “it will be a problem” for the municipality in the coming weeks, he anticipated.
“We are going to have people going to the Chamber asking ‘how is my process going?’”, he admitted, considering, on the other hand, that this matter cannot be treated lightly, when remembering the reconstruction of houses after the 2017 fires in Pedrógão Grande that triggered a legal process and convictions, including from mayors.
In this regard, he pointed to the risks of incompatibilities between mayors and technicians in validating support for the reconstruction of houses and admitted that applications may arise with “photographs that may not be associated with the storm” or with inflated budgets.
“And if we validate an expense like that, support like that, what will they say about us? Incompetent? Is it just schemes? They failed”, he questioned, guaranteeing the creation of the “maximum conditions” so that there can be “fair decisions”.
Challenged to classify the work of the Government, led by social democrat Luís Montenegro, following the bad weather, Gonçalo Lopes (PS) considered that “any classification given to the Government will always be unfair”.
“What’s more, if I give a rating, it could harm Leiria”, he admitted, sending the executive’s performance assessment to the citizens.
“I want the Government to govern the country well, that’s all I need, that’s what we all want. If it governs well, the municipalities will have better conditions”, he added.
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