The Government announced today the set-up of a multidisciplinary team to respond to the consequences of the fires that have hit several regions of the country in the last few days. The team, based in Aveiro, will be coordinated by the Minister in the Cabinet of the Prime Minister and of Territorial Cohesion Manuel Castro Almeida with the aim of ensuring immediate assistance to the local people and municipalities hit.

The Prime Minister Luís Montenegro made the announcement during a press conference at the National Authority for Emergency and Civil Protection (ANEPC) in Carnaxide, near Lisbon, where he was with the President of the Republic Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. In addition to this, the Prime Minister confirmed that the Government decided to extend the state of alert through to the end of next Thursday.

The new multidisciplinary team will include the Secretaries of State for Health, Education, Social Security, Housing, Forests, and Local Administration and will begin operating tomorrow, Tuesday, in the Aveiro municipality. "This team is already scheduling meetings with the mayors of the municipalities hit the most to assess the pressing needs and offer the necessary assistance", Luís Montenegro claimed.

The team’s priorities are to reopen schools in the areas affected, prepare the healthcare units to accommodate the victims and coordinate the recovery of the houses damaged. The Ministry of Agriculture will also offer support to the producers who lost their capacity to produce, whereas the Ministry of Labour and Social Security will assess the social responses including psychological support for the people affected.

Luís Montenegro also noted that at this moment, the Government’s priority is to ensure the bodies involved in fighting the fires have all the conditions in place to operate effectively. "The Government will intervene directly through this new team, which will start working tomorrow in Aveiro, but which will cover the entire territory affected", the Prime Minister stressed.