The Portuguese arm of the anti-corruption global network Transparency International, today called for all Portugal State spending on fire fighting to be transparent and for all amounts invested in the fight against forest fires to be identified in detail, as well as for the identification of all those private companies that have benefitted from taxpayers money.
In a statement released to the media today, Transparência e Integridade, Associação Cívica (TIAC), pointed to the limited information available on how hundreds of millions of euros of public money for fire fighting are spent every year.
"Information about the destination of this money is scarce, almost secret, and such data as we have is worrying."
The fires that ravaged Portugal in recent days have claimed lives, deprived many Portuguese of their homes and assets, destroyed much property and impoverished the country.
“In addition to the human and material losses, these fires also risk the health, quality of life and the tranquility of the inhabitants in the affected areas. They have demanded enormous sacrifices from firefighters and the people that support them, and have consumed enormous resources from the armed forces, the Local Authorities and many other public and private entities.”
The association says that a long-overdue long-term strategy and that due to the immediacy of forest fires, political response times are reduced, which sometimes leads decision-makers to "cut corners" without proper monitoring. The risks of mismanagement of these scarce resources are real.”
The statement noted the recently statement by the Secretary of State for Internal Affairs, Jorge Gomes, who said that the fires allow the flourishing of "the firefighting industry which gives money to many people."
“The money is rushed through and each year, hundreds of millions of euros are spent in fighting fires without the public having clear and transparent information on the destination and the beneficiaries of these funds. Information about the fate of this money is scarce, almost secret, and the scant information that we have is worrying.”
One of the main beneficiaries of Portugal’s spate of fires is Everjets, bought by Domingos Névoa in 2015 along with a long-term contract with the civil protection authority.
This contract already has been under police scrutiny as not only was it highly preferential, but also 50% of the six helicopters Everjets was meant to use for firefighting have been sitting on the tarmac ever since due to technical problems.
This has left the civil protection authority short of cover and is the reason it has had to bring in last minute alternatives at huge expense to the taxpayer with €5 million so far spent on hiring two Canadair aircraft.
The bills mount up, the government blames the landowners and the country blazes, hardly a case of joined up thinking and with such large sums involved, the chances increase that some fires have been being deliberately set.
The Board of the Transparência e Integridade, Associação Cívica has appealed to Parliament, the Government and the Court of Auditors to publish the details of all spending on fighting this year’s fires as “for the sake of transparency in public life, it is urgent to disclose this information and assess the merits of the expenditures made.”
Who are the arsonists?
According to the Judicial Police so far this year 37 people have been arrested, accused of arson in the countryside.
One 45-year-old unemployed man is said to be responsible for setting at least 26 fires in the northern region of Oliveira de Azeméis.
The Judicial Police announced on August 17th the capture of two others including 52-year-old housewife accused of causing at least three fires in Aveiro, in central Portugal.
The other detainee is a 37-year-old man who allegedly caused 12 fires at Benagil, Lagoa.
According to a study by the Institute for Conservation of Nature and Forests, people are behind 99% of fires with 570 arrests since 2010.
The profile of these arsonists is almost always the same: young adults between 20 and 40 years old, unemployed, with low educational level, without caring relationships and with alcohol problems.
The reasons often are linked with depressive illness and frustration.
