Portugal Safety and Security Report Wednesday 11th January 2023
Good morning – With colder weather particularly in the north and centre of the country this is apt time to for a reminder of safety within the household in terms of fire prevention and carbon monoxide poisoning. It is an unfortunate fact that it is at night time when most deaths take place as we have seen from several fires that have taken place over the last 2-3 months.
ANEPC Have published a reminder regarding Carbon monoxide which is a toxic gas and dangerous, which results from deficient combustion, for example wood or coal, and can accumulate in confined spaces. Special vigilance is recommended at heights of intense cold, when appliances are most used and ventilation in the home tends to be lower.
Incorrectly installed, poorly maintained or poorly ventilated household appliances, such as cookers, heaters and central heating boilers, are the most common causes of accidental exposure to carbon monoxide. Blocked flues and chimneys can stop carbon monoxide escaping, allowing it to reach dangerous levels or burning fuel in an enclosed or unventilated space a faulty boiler in an enclosed kitchen. Leaking seals on wood burning stove doors are another risk so check these regularly.
Most of these deaths are preventable so a reminder to: avoid sleeping near heating equipment; properly protect the fireplace so that it does not cause a household fire; move away furniture and do not dry your clothes in heaters; before bed or leaving home make sure you have put out wood and charcoal fires or turned off heating equipment in order to avoid possible fires and avoid overload – do not connect too many devices in the same outlet, especially high consumption.
Yesterday the Portuguese Federation of Benevolent Blood Donors (FEPODABES) warns of the need for urgent mobilization of blood donors in order to avoid a lack of blood in hospitals. The president of FEPODABES, Alberto Mota, reports that “groups A-, B-, O+ and O- worry us, because they are already reaching levels of some concern”. Apparently the association has received reports of some hospitals that are already reducing their activity, due to the decrease in donation. We posted yesterday more details about giving blood in Portugal. If you wish and able to give blood please locate and contact your closest donation centre.
A reminder concerning the thefts of olives. Yesterday the GNR, through the military of the Beja Territorial Command, detained six men and three women, for olive theft, on January 8, in the council of Aljustrel. If you have a sizable number of olive trees on your land we advise that you keep a lookout for anyone acting suspiciously in the vicinity and if so inform the GNR.
A reminder that traffic on the 25 de Abril Bridge is being affected by restrictions which started on Tuesday 10th January lasting until the 20th of January, between 21:00 and 07:00, due to maintenance works, according to Lusoponte. According to a statement from the concessionaire of the bridge that connects Lisbon to Almada (District of Setúbal), work will be carried out over 10 days to repave the road surface. Work will take place every working day so if you are driving to Lisbon bear in mind there will be delays during these periods.
Our team at Safe Communities wishes you a safe and happy week ahead
News
Portugal hosts European seminar on lessons learned from rural fires of 2022.
The European Commission and the Ministry of Internal Administration, through Autoridade Nacional de Emergência e Proteção Civil are holding a seminar today and tomorrow in Lisbon to share lessons learned in combating rural fires from the 2022 fire season analysis.
This initiative is carried out in Portugal on a proposal by the Minister of Internal Administration, José Luís Carneiro, presented in September 2022 at the Council of Interior of the European Union (EU), where he emphasized the importance of strengthening European ability to respond to the fires ravaging the continent in a way which is more frequent and intense.
The seminar, which is attended by representatives from more than 30 countries, has three main objectives focused on rural fires: Response, Preparation and Prevention
At the Response level, the lessons identified in various rural fire fighting operations under the European Civil Protection Mechanism in 2022 will be discussed.
In the Preparedness plan, they will review measures put into practice to better manage rural fire risks and reduce their impacts.
In the matter of Prevention, the steps to better anticipate the occurrence of rural fires at the national and European level, based on best practices and future planning will be discussed.
At the opening of the seminar on the “Program of Lessons Learned from the Rural Fire Season 2022 of the European Civil Protection Mechanism”, it was attended by the European Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarcic, Minister José Luís Carneiro and Min Swedish civil defence force Carl-Oskar Bohlin via video conference and while representing the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the EU.
Then there is a panel in which the Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection of Greece Christos Stylianides and (via video conference) the Interior Ministers of the Czech Republic Vít Rakušan of Spain, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, and General of France d Darmanin, Slovenian Defense Minister Marian Sarec, and the Minister of Civil Protection and Maritime Police of Italy, Nello Musumeci.
The seminar has the participation of the Secretary of State for Civil Protection, Patrícia Gaspar, the President of ANEPC, General Duarte da Costa, and the National Commander, André Fernandes.
Covid-19: outbreak in China should not have significant impact on Europe, says WHO
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimated today that the outbreak of cases of covid-19 in China will not have a significant impact on Europe because the variants that circulate there already exist on the European continent.
“The current rise in China is not expected to have a significant impact on the epidemiological situation of covid-19 in the European region,” said WHO regional director Hans Kluge at an online press conference. Kluge further urged European countries to take “proportionate and non-discriminatory” measures towards travellers from China.
Several countries, including Portugal, the United States, Japan, France and Germany, began to require negative tests for travellers from China and others advised against unnecessary trips to China. Last week, the European Union encouraged its member states to impose pre-flight screening in China, complementing the negative test with “random tests” upon arrival on European soil.
According to WHO, the 53 countries in the region that extends to Central Asia, thanks mainly to the high vaccination rate, are well protected to deal with covid.
“At the beginning of 2023, the region (…) really has a very good position. We have strong population protection, thanks in part to the waves of natural contagion that have occurred, but above all thanks to an excellent general adherence to vaccination” , said Catherine Smallwood, WHO Europe emergency manager. However, according to the organization, it is important to maintain a high level of vigilance.
“After three long years of the pandemic, when many countries are struggling with overstretched health systems, shortages of essential medicines and an exhausted health work force, we cannot afford to put more strain on our health systems,” Kluge emphasized.
“This threat could come from a worrying new variant, anywhere, anytime – including here in Europe and Central Asia. Based on lessons learned, we need to be able to anticipate, detect and react in time,” he added.
Mayor of Espinho detained by the Judicial Police
Porto, Jan 10, 2023 (Lusa) – The mayor of Espinho, Miguel Reis, was arrested today by the Judiciary Police (PJ), as part of an investigation into various economic crimes allegedly committed in the licensing of works, a source connected to Lusa told Lusa.
According to the same source, several businessmen were also arrested, some linked to the civil construction sector.
The operation was triggered during the morning of today and, at 12:30, it was still going on.
Miguel Reis was elected mayor of Espinho, Aveiro district, by the PS in the 2021 municipal elections, with 40.23% of the votes.
The architect has already been councilor in the chamber, member of the Parish Assembly of Anta, deputy in the Espinho Municipal Assembly, member of the PS District Assembly of Porto and of the national commission of the party.
Before taking office as mayor, Miguel Reis reconciled his political activity with teaching at the Professional School of Espinho, belonging to the Oliveira Martins group, and research in the areas of Governance of the Sea, Energy and Environment, New Ways of Living and Civil Protection.
He is currently president of the Espinho PS Council Political Commission, after being re-elected to the position in October 2022.
An official source from the chamber confirmed to Lusa, around 1 pm, that the searches were still ongoing.
The statement explains that 174 doctors will be working at the region’s public hospitals, while 22 will be placed at the region’s health centres (14 at the Central Algarve health centres group, three at the Eastern Algarve health centres group and four at the Western Algarve health centres group). The interns were welcomed on Tuesday, January 3 in Faro by ARS Algarve boss Paulo Morgado, who stressed the importance of “investing in knowledge and research” to meet the needs of society.
A new project has been launched with the goal of “restoring, recovering and reforesting” around 100 hectares of land in the Algarve’s Serra do Caldeirão mountains.
The man is Idalino Pereira, popularly known as Mestre Idalino Canelas, who lives in Pocinho and was last seen in Venda Nova.The searches are being carried out by 9 operatives and 4 vehicles from the National Republican Guard (GNR), 7 operatives and 3 vehicles from the Municipal Civil Protection Service and two operatives and a vehicle from the Maritime Police.
In a vote, which according to the organisation was the closest ever, in which 10 trees participated, Eucalipto de Contige, Sátão, district of Viseu won, in what is the sixth edition of the initiative in Portugal.
In the lead up to the festive period there was an intensive campaign utilizing social media, and radio/television to try and drive home these messages concerning the effects of drink driving in particular and use of mobile phones and excess speed being the main causes of fatal accidents. The theme “The Best Gift is Being Present”, showing the effect on families resulting from the loss of a family member through a road accident, was in my view well thought out and appropriate. The results are therefore disappointing.
The recent floods together with fallen trees and landslips resulting from heavy rains is a reminder of the importance of following the advice given by the civil protection authorities. We saw several instances of people driving their cars into flooded areas with the inevitable outcome; the car becoming immobilized. In one case and elderly couple cut the tapes put in place by the GNR so they could pass along a flooded road and then became trapped as the car became lodged in a whole in the road and they had to be rescued (see photo). This incidence as well as some of the landslips involving boulders falling on to roads, are good reasons why in extreme conditions, when warnings are in place, people should avoid travelling. The more people on the streets the higher the risk of injuries or worse, and places the emergencies themselves at risk in rescue operations.
At the same time, the GNR detected 924 road traffic offences, of which 187 were due to speeding, 77 due to lack of mandatory periodic inspection, 41 related to anomalies in the lighting and signalling systems, 23 due to improper use of the mobile phone while driving and 20 due to lack of liability insurance. With regard to accidents on Algarve roads, 109 accidents were recorded, resulting in one death, three serious injuries and 19 minor injuries.
According to the Faro District Relief Operations Command (CDOS) , the accident occurred in the early afternoon, on the EN125, in the Belmonte area, in the municipality of Portimão, and involved two light goods vehicles. According to the source, the accident led to the conditioning of road traffic on the road section near Belmonte, which has now been re-established.
Newborns may, in fact, be synonymous with fragility. But let’s not forget that they are also the pinnacle of courage, strength and resilience in their most natural state. “That’s exactly what Sanyam is”, says the emotional mother.
And to end this first report we congratulate the Castelo do Sonhos family Charity in Silves, who successfully organised the 18th Christmas shoebox for the elderly campaign.
The Public Security Police (PSP) seized on Friday, December 16, 25 thousand euros and 60 individual doses of cocaine during two house searches in the municipality of Faro , announced the security force.
The body was seen “floating off the marina” in the Algarve coastal town by a member of the public, who alerted the authorities at 11:21 am, and elements from the Faro Maritime Police Local Command and the Faro Maritime Station were called to help. Quarteira lifeguards , explained AMN in a statement.
And Finally can I take this opportunity to wish all our Algarve followers a very Happy Christmas and Stay Safe.
There will some traffic restrictions in Funchal on December 22nd, from 20h00 to 21h30, due to the athletics race (“X Grande Pr
The tourist train is be back in the Municipality of São Vicente, as part of a tour of nativity scenes (Cribs Route – Rota dos Presépios). Visitors will be able to travel on this train on January 7th and 8th, January 14th and 15th, and January 21st and 22nd). Each train will depart at 19h00 in São Vicente and its arrival will be at around 21h00. Fares can be purchased onboard the train and will cost €5. Children up to the age of 5 will be able to travel free of charge.
In terms of opportunist property crime the most frequent means of access is through open windows when the property is unoccupied. There is a simple message here spend 5 minutes before going out checking that windows and doors are closed and locked, lights switch on if at night time, cars locked if kept in a driveway or open car port.
“We are talking about restructuring, even from a legal point of view, we should talk about restructuring the SEF, because the skills and people who have these skills will continue to work in the internal security system. What is expected is that in the first quarter of 2023 we will have the conditions for this transition to take place”, José Luís Carneiro told journalists.
This entity clarifies that it only sends notifications by mail and that no indication of these emails should be followed. In addition to containing the image of the Road Safety Authority, some of these emails also have the image of the GNR and the PSP.
With the arrival of the cruise ship ‘Arcadia’ owed by P&O at the port of Ponta Delgada, São Miguel, The Azores broke the record for the most ships visiting in one year. Over 200 dockings have been recorded so far.
Clélio Meneses said that “prevention” is the executive’s main focus but acknowledged that there is also a need for intervention in treatment, risk reduction and damage minimization, appealing to the collaboration of society as a whole.
In this case apart from the normal advice by the ANEPC, there was advice by various authorities including the President of IPMA to only travel if your journey is really necessary certainly in areas most affected by the bad weather. This was sound advice as apart from reducing the number of people potentially at risk, it reduces the work of the emergency workers who have worked literally 24/7 to deal with the occurrences over the last week or so.
As of 2020, suspects set up an elaborate scheme that allowed them to gain access to hundreds of victims’ bank accounts. They responded to sales advertisements on “online” platforms and were predisposed to make payments through MBWay. If victims had MBWay, they would make up an excuse and walk away from the business. If they didn’t have it, they were convinced to join the system.
The so-called ” Qatargate ” case , allegedly involving favors to the country hosting the world football championship, has so far resulted in Kaili being accused of participating in a criminal organization, money laundering and corruption.