Government guarantees that support for the 2024 fires is “almost all resolved”

The Minister of Economy and Territorial Cohesion stated this Wednesday that the support allocated for the 2024 fires has been "almost all resolved." According to Manuel Castro Almeida, the remaining cases are those involving disputed amounts.

The minister, who was speaking in Parliament, said that in the case of support for farmers for damages of up to €6,000, 5,075 grants have been awarded and 30 remain to be awarded, "which are in dispute" because there is "a demand over the amount in question".

Quoted by the Lusa news agency, Castro Almeida also highlighted that, in the case of damage to first homes, there are 75 requests for support, of which three cases of first homes are yet to be contracted.

“And also here because there are problems with the lack of response from individuals,” he declared.

In the case of factories and companies, the minister highlighted that there are 50 requests, with three pending cases from companies that had insurance, but stressed that two of these cases "will be resolved this week", so "there will be only one pending case".

"As you can imagine, when there's one pending case, two pending cases, or 30 cases out of 5,000, it's not due to negligence on the part of the departments. It's because there are disputes and conflicts. These are difficult situations," he added.

Rural fires in 2024 burned an area of ​​136,424 hectares, the majority of which was consumed by the September fires. According to the Council of Ministers resolution determining the territorial scope of support to be provided following the fires, more than 60 municipalities were eligible to apply for support.