Year: 2018

“Never turn back the sea, watch children constantly” and “pay special attention to rip tides.” These are some of the advice of the National Maritime Authority for the trips to the beach with the official date of the end of the bathing season.

The bathing season has already ended on most Portuguese beaches. As many beaches no longer have the permanent assistance of lifeguards, coupled with the lack of signage and equipment to assist swimmers, it is therefore fundamental that people care in terms of safety, “said the Maritime Authority.

Respecting an interval of three hours after a normal meal before swimming, not turning your back on the sea and paying attention rip tides are also advice that was given.

As for the rip tides, “they can be fatal and cause death by drowning. You should not panic or try to beat the current by trying to swim against it.

If you enter a rip tide, you should summon help and swim sideways (parallel) to the coast line until you no longer feel the effect of the current. Then try and swim towards the shore. “he concludes.

 

The Aliens and Borders Service (SEF) has complied with a search warrant for the home of a lawyer in the Lisbon area, who is suspected of being exclusively involved in making unfounded applications for asylum, with large financial rewards from foreign citizens, who had been refused entrance into national territory. The investigation of the SEF, denominated “Operation Lingala”, lasted more than a year.

The lawyer was constituted defendant and was notified to appear in court. There are also strong indications of her involvement in a cell in Dakar, Senegal, which allegedly indicated the suspicion that foreign nationals came to Portugal and could subsequently initiate asylum applications.

After the detention of the foreign citizens in the Equipped Space to the Temporary Installation Center (EECIT) at the Lisbon Airport, to which the entry was refused, the lawyer immediately arrived where she requested the consultation of the respective processes, as well as the contact with the passengers (mostly nationals of African countries whose flights originated in Dakar, Luanda and Casablanca) without being asked to attend.

Then, in order to prevent them from being removed to their country of origin, the lawyer submitted an asylum application on behalf of the foreign citizen, as well as a power of attorney appointing her as an agent.

This abuse of the international protection mechanism through asylum applications, which were mostly unfounded, had the sole purpose of preventing intercepted passengers from returning to their country of origin, a move which gave the suspicion a high financial contribution.

During the searches made to her apartment, which also functioned as an office, computer and communication equipment used by the suspects, schedules, notebooks with indication of amounts collected, as well as proof of transfers / receipts of monetary amounts via financial agencies or banks were seized.

The Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF) detected eight false or falsified documents at the Lisbon airport on 24 Septemberl, six of which were identified at the border of the Schengen Area and two at the exit.

Early in the morning, one of the first flights landing in Lisbon and coming from São Tomé, with stopover in Accra, detected two male passengers with fraudulent documentation. One of them presented a counterfeit Mauritius passport and the other a passport from the Republic of Korea where the original biographical page was replaced by a fake page. The latter document also contained false border stamps.

On another flight from Rio de Janeiro, a passenger was identified who used a French passport. It was a young woman whose final destination was Italy.

Already at mid-morning, on the arrival of the flight from Caracas, three more passengers, all men, with falsified documents. They presented the border authorities with passports from Germany, Norway and France, all of them with similar frauds: replacing a genuine biographical page with a false one.

During that day, two foreign nationals were also detained, when they presented to the SEF, at the exit border, Brazilian passports containing false border stamps, with which they intended to travel to Brasilia.

The airline’s official statement said: “With a great regret, we must inform you that Primera Air will cease all operations on the midnight of October 1st, 2018 and enter administration process, after 14 years of operations

Primera Air operates it services from Madeira, Lisbon, Faro and Ponta Delgada in Portugal as well as from various points in the United Kingdom.

For UK passengers the Primera website stated that it is not covered by the UK Civil Aviation Authority’s ATOL Protection scheme which only covers passengers booked on a package holiday.

The annoucement states:

9/30/2018 9:00:00 PM

 

On its website it states “Passengers wishing to obtain a refund for unused tickets will need to contact the company directly. Passengers who booked directly with the company via either a credit, charge or debit card may alternatively be able to make a claim against their card provider. Some card providers will ask for a negative response letter confirming the position* Passengers may also be able to make a claim against their travel insurer. (*This letter will be published shortly)

Passengers who have flown

Passengers who have travelled will need to make their own arrangements to return home. They should contact their travel insurer or travel agent for assistance.

 

The GNR announced on Monday 1st October the arrest of 10 people, aged between 22 and 49 years, on suspicion of drug trafficking and possession of prohibited weapons, in Seia, Guarda district.

In a statement, the Territorial Command of the GNR of the Guard said that the suspects were detained on Sunday by members of the Gouveia Territorial Detachment following two inquiries that had taken place for about six months.

Following the investigation, the military carried out 20 search warrants, conducting eleven home searches and nine non-domiciliary searches in various locations in the municipality of Seia.

During the operation, the GNR seized seven vehicles, 19 cannabis plants, five hashish and three doses of cocaine, two methadone vials, 25 mobile phones, two airguns, one air pressure gun, one alarm gun, three guns, a tablet, a computer, two precision scales, and 342 pieces of allegedly counterfeit clothing and footwear.

The detainees, six men and four women, with a criminal record for drug trafficking offenses and possession of a prohibited weapon, appeared before the Seia Judicial Court on Tuesday for first judicial interrogation.

 

 

N.º AP/42/DCS/2018 DATA 2018-10-01 HORA 14H30

NOTICE TO THE POPULATION

NATIONAL AUTHORITY OF CIVIL PROTECTION

Increased Rural Fire Hazard

1. SITUATION

Meteorological situation:

Following the meteorological information provided by the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and the Atmosphere (IPMA), for the next 48 hours, the weather conditions are forecast of the continuation of dry and hot weather, with intensification of the east quadrant of wind, relatively low relative humidity throughout the territory and with a significant increase in the risk of fire.

2. EXPECTED EFFECTS

In addition to increasing weather severity, there is also considerable presence of forest fuel, resulting in conditions favourable to the occurrence and rapid spread of rural fires. As such it is necessary to ensure the preventive measures described below.

3. PREVENTIVE MEASURES

The ANPC reminds people that, according to the legal provisions in force and due to the prolongation of the critical period up to 15 October, it is not allowed:

• Carrying out burnings and lighting bonfires for recreation, leisure or cooking;
• Using burning and combustion equipment intended for lighting or cooking;
• Burning cut scrub and other waste piles, as well as any other kind of farm surplus;
• Releasing balloons with a lit fuse or any other type of rockets/fireworks;
• Smoking, lighting fires or using naked flames of any kind in the forest spaces and paths/roads that surround them;
• Fumigating and pest control in apiaries with devices that are not fitted with spark-retention devices.

The ANPC also reminds people of some special precautions to take, in view of the predicted meteorological conditions, in carrying out agricultural and forestry work, namely:

• Keep machines and equipment clean of oils and dust;
• Fill machines in cold and in a place with little vegetation;
• Be careful to avoid sparks during handling of equipment, avoiding using them during hot periods.

Against this background, ANPC has elevated the Special Alert Status (EAE) of the Integrated Protection and Relief Operations System (SIOPS) to the ORANGE- level Special Fire-fighting Device (SIR) for the districts of Beja, Évora, Faro, Lisbon and Setúbal; and the RED LEVEL  SIOPS Special Alert State (EAE), for the districts of Aveiro, Bragança, Castelo Branco, Coimbra, Guarda, Leiria, Porto, Portalegre, Santarém, Viana do Castelo, Vila Real and Viseu (from 011800OUT18 to 032359OUT18).

The ANPC also recommends the need for everyone to adapt their behaviour and activities in view of the danger of rural fires, in particular by adopting the necessary precautionary measures, taking into account the existing prohibitions and paying particular attention to the evolution of the fire hazard to the next few days, available at the websites of the ANPC and the IPMA, with the Forestry Technical Offices of the City Councils and Fire Departments.

 

Communication and Awareness Division

Jorge Dias | 965 160 096

Alcina Coutinho | 919 201 307

On the first day of the month, in the Alentejo and the Center temperatures were higher than 41º C. The average maximum was almost four degrees above normal

The Portuguese Institute of the Sea and the Atmosphere (IPMA) revealed on Monday that last month was the warmest September since record-keeping. The average temperature was 22.98 ° C, plus 2.8 ° than usual at this time of year.

To find the second September warmer it is necessary to go back to 1985, when the average temperature was of 22.89º C. The IPMA records the temperatures from 1931.

Last month, temperatures peaked around 30 degrees across most of Europe. In Portugal, the meteorological peaks were registered in the Alentejo and in the Center. On the first day of the month, Lousã, Moura, Alvega and Tomar respectively scored 41.6º C, 41.5º C, 41.4º C and 41.3º C respectively.

The average maximum temperature reached 30.2 ° C, 3.9 ° C higher than usual at this time of year.

The minimum was 15.7º C, the fourth highest since 1931. And between the days 10 to 17 and 19 to 27 of September there were two heat waves, in which the thermometer marked 5ºC more than the average value of this period.

September was still a weak month of precipitation. 91.6% of the territory was in weak drought and 6.8 in moderate drought. It was the second driest month of the last 30 years; the first was September 2017. The cold air masses and depressions caused by the Azores anticyclone were pointed out by the IPMA specialist as the origin of this metrological phenomenon.

Due to high temperatures, the fire risk alert is maintained and the critical state has been declared until October 15.

The summer of 2018 started late, with the month of June having been more rain since 2000 and the coldest July since the beginning of the millennium. However, in August there was a reversal, with historic temperatures being recorded in several places. August 4 was the hottest day of the 21st century.

 

The Public Prosecutor’s Office of the Investigation and Criminal Action Department (DIAP) of Leiria has filed charges against twelve defendants concerning the fires that took place on June 17, 2017 in the municipalities of Pedrogão Grande, Castanheira de Pêra, Figueiró dos Vinhos, Alvaiázere and Ansião.

The Public Ministry of the DIAP de Leiria has filed a charge against 12 defendants in connection with the fire investigation in Pedrógão Grande

In a note published on the MP’s website, Leiria district,on 28^th September 2018  it is stated that “the defendants have been with negligent manslaughter and negligence offenses, some of which were offences to serious bodily harm”

“At the time of the fire, the twelve defendants comprised: two senior managers of an electricity supply company; three had command and coordination functions in the civil protection area, three were senior officials of the company responsible for maintaining the EN 236; three were councillors of municipalities where victims occurred, one still an employee of one of these municipalities, “the notice explains.

These fires caused more than sixty deaths and injured more than four more people, destroying more than twenty-four thousand hectares of forest and numerous properties, states the MP.

“Despite its enormous complexity, it was possible to complete the investigation in a little over a year, and the Public Ministry was assisted in its action by the Judiciary Police, Board of the Center, and important contributions of various public entities were also mobilized.”

 

SCHEDULE

The operational situation of the rural firefighting strategy implemented in 2018

The level of risk of rural fire risk for the next few days, the operational measures prepared to cope with this aggravated risk and the care to be observed by the population in the use and enjoyment of rural areas during the period in question

Operational strategy for rural firefighting 2018

• Reinforcement of monitoring of all occurrences • Increase in anticipation capacity • Establishment of Expert Nucleus in CNOS – H24 – to analyze the potential of each occurrence and support to the operational decision • Reinforcement of the terrestrial and aerial resources • Reinforcement of the monitoring and recognition aerial – 2 reconnaissance aircraft • Transfer of the heli-transport capacity to the GIPS-GNR, concentrating in the FEB the response of ATA

Operational strategy for rural firefighting 2018

• Human resources 10,767 operational (+ 11% | 2017)
• Land resources 2.303 vehicles (+ 12% | 2017)
• Airborne means 55 + 1 (RAM) (+ 15% | 2017)

Operational strategy for rural firefighting 2018

Comparing the figures ​​of 2018 with the history of the last 10 years, there was 44% less rural fires and 63% less area burn than the annual average of the period

This year 2018 is, from 2008 and until yesterday, September 24, the 2nd year with the lowest level in number of fires and the 3rd year with the lowest value in the burned area

IR Risk – Next Days

• The autumn has begun, but weather conditions maintain the summer pattern, ie the mainland territory continues with high risk of rural fire
• In the last 72 hours there has been an increase in ignitions, as well as an increase in occurrences of greater complexity
• There is a growing tendency to increase the frequency of extreme and out-of-season phenomena, such as to cause large rural fires

IR Risk – Next Days

GOVERNMENT EXTENDS CRITICAL FIRE PERIOD

The Government decided to extend the critical period of fires until October 15, within the framework of the Forest Fire Protection System, due to the foreseeable meteorological conditions during the first half of October

IR Risk – Next Days

It is essential to continue to respect the critical period of fires by avoiding the burning or burning of heaps of agricultural waste

ZERO TOLERANCE TO THE USE OF FIRE

The Portuguese have to wait for a period of reduced risk of fire to promote the usual cleaning of their lands

PJ Militar’s director, Colonel Luís Augusto Vieira was detained on Tuesday 25^th September  in the investigation into the war material “allegedly” stolen from the Tancos military base in June last year. In addition at least five other people, including other elements of PJ Militar, GNR and a civilian suspect were detained.

GNR spokesman Hélder Barros confirms the arrest of three GNR personnel from the criminal investigation unit of GNR de Loulé, including the head of that unit. “In the context of a judicial police operation, three soldiers from the criminal investigation nucleus of Loulé were searched at work, and were detained in the meantime”.

In this case, it is suspected that the military of the PJM and the GNR have, in complicity with the alleged perpetrator of the robbery, forged the “recovery” of the weapons, to undermine the investigation of the PJ.

In a joint statement, the Attorney General’s Office and the PJ confirm that in the context of Operation Húbris, elements of PJ Militar, GNR and another suspect were detained without mentioning names or positions.

We have also carried out searches at various sites in the Greater Lisbon, Algarve, Porto and Santarém areas. This investigation investigates the circumstances surrounding the appearance on 18 October 2017 in the Chamusca region of war material stolen in Tancos, “says the PGR note.

The MP refers to the fact that these actions are “likely to include crimes of criminal association, denial of justice, prevarication, falsification of documents, influence peddling, personal favoritism practiced by an employee, abuse of power, reception, possession of a prohibited weapon and arms trafficking “.

Five prosecutors and about a hundred investigators and experts from the PJ participated in the operation.

Finally, it is also mentioned that “the detainees will be present to the Court of Criminal Investigation of Lisbon for the application of coercive measures”.