Fires. Carneiro in favor of an independent technical committee

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The PS secretary-general said this Tuesday that the party will vote against the creation of a commission of inquiry into the fires presented by Chega, which “discovered ten days later what was happening in the country” , instead defending an independent technical commission.

“We will vote against this proposal made by a party that discovered ten days later what was happening in the country,” said José Luís Carneiro, who was speaking to journalists at a press conference in Lousã, an initiative integrated into the route he is taking along the National Road 2 (EN2).

According to the PS secretary-general, the party he leads took the initiative to present an independent technical commission, an intention announced on August 15, about ten days before the Chega party advocated for a parliamentary commission of inquiry.

“When the Socialist Party took the initiative to present an independent technical commission, it means that it dispenses with other alternative proposals,” he clarified.

For José Luís Carneiro, "an external perspective" is necessary to assess what may have gone wrong in preventing, preparing for and fighting fires in 2025, recalling that the atmospheric conditions and climate variations experienced this year are very similar to those in 2022 (when 110,000 hectares burned, while this year is approaching the mark of 250,000 hectares burned).

"We need to understand what went wrong in prevention, what went wrong in preparation, and what went wrong in combat, so that, with that learning, we can correct what didn't work and avoid repeating the mistakes made this year," he stressed.

José Luís Carneiro recalled that as Minister of Internal Administration, he did not wait "for others" to propose an independent technical commission for the 2022 fires, having taken the initiative to invite research centers across the country to assess what had gone wrong in the Serra da Estrela fire, the largest of that year.

The PS leader recalled that of the 30 recommendations produced by the 2022 commission's report, 12 were included in the combat mechanism in 2023.

For José Luís Carneiro, there was at the time "political leadership on the matter," also pointing to the case of air resources, which were pre-positioned, including teams from Finland and Estonia the following year.

“It is necessary, for example, to assess whether in 2025 this pre-positioning was done in light of the risk analysis, or whether, possibly, out of excessive caution, the risk of mobilizing them to where they were most needed was not taken,” he noted.

During the press conference, which took place at a hotel in the center of Lousã, José Luís Carneiro also made a commitment that the PS will present to the Assembly of the Republic the legislative pieces that can follow up on the reform of rural property, approved at the last Council of Ministers of the Government of António Costa.

Supported by the former Secretary of State for Forests, João Paulo Catarino, the Socialist Secretary-General considered that one of the serious problems in forest management involves rural properties, characterized mainly north of the Tagus by smallholdings.

This reform of rural property aimed to resolve problems related to undivided inheritance and combat the excessive fragmentation of properties.

João Paulo Catarino noted that the five-year work leading up to the reform identified 11.5 million rural properties, 85% of which were located north of the Tagus River and had an average area of ​​0.6 hectares. "The fragmentation of property makes it unmanageable," he warned.

The PS secretary-general accused the Government of leading to the “decapitation of several intermediate structures” of the National Civil Protection Authority.

"If I were prime minister, I would not have authorized the changes made to the National Civil Protection Authority, which led to the decapitation of several intermediate structures," said José Luís Carneiro.

For the socialist leader, "only a party lacking a sense of state would do what was done in the decapitation of intermediate structures in the National Civil Protection Authority."

Regarding the responses and measures presented by the Government, José Luís Carneiro understood that, before announcing new programs or projects, the Government should evaluate previous programs and reforms, namely those made by the Socialist Party after the major fires of 2017.

According to the PS secretary-general, "serious, rigorous and methodical work" was carried out by the governments led by the PS, considering it unacceptable that the current Government led by Luís Montenegro is packaging and "putting aside" this work, "without prior dialogue".

"The government cannot pass over these issues like a cat on hot coals. It must effectively answer the questions being asked and demonstrate that it is serving the country, because that is the government's primary obligation to the Portuguese people," he stressed.

During the press conference, the Socialist leader alluded to the various programs and measures put forward by the Socialist Party in the past aimed at enhancing the interior and fighting and preventing fires, considering that an evaluation of what has been done and a status report on the implementation of the different initiatives would be necessary, several of which are financed by the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP).

"The government is proposing a new Forest Pact, but for us, regardless of the evaluation of that Pact, which will be made in due course, there is a starting point. And the starting point is for the government to explain to the main opposition party what it did with the policy options, which were subject to rigorous planning, evaluation, investment estimates, and public investment decisions. We must demand accountability regarding the implementation of these development priorities for our country," he emphasized.

On his journey along the EN2 route, which crosses the interior of the country, from north to south, José Luís Carneiro said that the population feels “disregarded by the Prime Minister”.

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