The president of the Liberal Initiative (IL) today in Ponte de Lima criticized the government for its water management, classifying Saturday’s drought control measures as a “call in desperation”.
“This is a call in desperation to deal with the drought situation, which is a difficult situation and not expected to last for long, but we recognize that given climate change, this may happen more often than in the past and therefore a structural response is needed” , said João Cotrim de Figueiredo Lusa, in statements above all about the other initiative of the Liberal Routes.
The government approved on Saturday new drought-fighting measures that include cuts in consumption at tourist resorts in the Algarve and work on reservoirs in Tras os Montes, the environment and agriculture ministers announced.
“For too long, both in terms of the National Irrigation Plan, and in terms of irrigation areas, which are scarce in Portugal, and also in terms of the discussion of the transfer of water, which is possible in Portugal and not in other countries, this is not being done. a great deal has been done,” the leader added, referring to the leadership, which is also involved in the agro-industrial complex.
According to Cotrim de Figueiredo, “They are not in the PRR. [Plano de Recuperação e Resiliência] the funds allocated for the assumption and the infrastructure to deal with this problem”, adding that “many appeals can be made, but in practice, when something specific can be done, the government does not”.
Asked about the European Union’s proposal to member countries to cut natural gas consumption by 15% since the first hour contested by the Portuguese government, the IL leader said he agreed with the executive.
“We agree that Portugal should not make this commitment because it has no viable alternative,” Cotrim de Figueiredo said.
“There are also structural and market aspects here. The European Union is a space of solidarity between member states, so we often benefit from this solidarity, and if there are European countries now that will have the prospect of a difficult winter in terms of energy, we must be ready to do our part,” continued he.
However, he stressed, “the economic part makes this issue very difficult” because in the country “given the drought, the production of hydroelectric power will be much lower, but significantly lower than the average for a decade,” which will lead to the next winter. “greater consumption of natural gas in a market that is relatively small by European standards.”
“A 15% reduction in natural gas in Portugal would mean little, other than the source of our consumption is not even Russia in the first place, the percentage of Russian gas that is consumed in Portugal is very small,” the Illinois director continued.
For this reason, he pointed out, reducing consumption by 15% would be a “major problem” because since there is no “water capacity to replace gas”, there is no “ability to use all the gas the country needs.” that it is necessary “to return to coal-fired power plants, and one of them can no longer be reactivated, which would not be a good decision from an environmental or economic point of view.”
Cotrim de Figueiredo met today with civil engineering entrepreneurs to learn about the challenges in the sector and how the problems caused by the covid-19 pandemic or the emigration of specialized personnel can be overcome.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
