Month: July 2017

There may be an increase in respiratory, cardiac and “decompensation” diseases, says the president of the Regional Health Administration of the Center – reported in the Diarios de Noticais

The president of the Regional Health Administration of the Center (ARSC), José Tereso, has warned of the possibility of increasing “morbidity factors” in the zone affected by the fire that started in Pedrógão Grande on July 17.

“It is foreseeable that there will be an increase in the number of diseases, so we have launched an appeal for all residents to visit a doctor to check their health.” LSC president Lusa told the agency after the fire that began in Pedrógão Grande, that caused 64 dead and more than 200 injured.

According to José Tereso, there may be an increase in respiratory, cardiac and “decompensation” diseases. The official announced this in, Pedrógão Grande, Leiria district, from a mobile public health unit.

The mobile unit, which is in the Pedrógão Grande Health Center, will begin to move, “from place to place”, starting Monday 3^rd July.

The team has “public health doctors, environmental health technicians and other professionals”, who are going to do a study “to prevent diseases of the population” and identify unhealthy situations according to the ARSC.

“They will check if someone is supplied with untreated water, if food comes from contaminated areas, among other things,” he said.

According to José Tereso, on 3^rd July  the regional administration is coordinating a meeting in Pedrógão Grande, “with several participants from the organizations that have been active on the ground, as well as others who provide support and coordination at the national level”, to determine the “Next phase” of the program to support the affected region.

The fire that broke out in Pedrógão Grande on June 17, in the district of Leiria, caused at least 64 dead and more than 200 wounded, and was only given as extinct a week later.

More than two thousand operatives were involved in fighting the flames, which consumed 53 thousand hectares of forest, equivalent to about 75 thousand football fields.

The area destroyed by these fires in the Central region corresponds to almost a third of the area burned in Portugal in 2016, which totalled 154,944 hectares, according to the Annual Internal Security Report released by the Government in March.

A Groundforce official was beaten “brutally” by two passengers on a TAP flight who were able to get off the plane and access the runway at Lisbon airport, the SITAVA coordinator said.

Speaking to the Lusa news agency, Fernando Henriques said that the incident took place on 2^nd June on a 10:30 flight from Paris, where two passengers were able to get out of the plane and assault the employee of Groundforce.

According to the head of the Union of Aviation Workers and Airports (SITAVA), the two passengers “came down to the plate and brutally assaulted a Groundforce worker who had to receive hospital care” with suspected “fractures in two ribs” Besides several abrasions.

Fernando Henriques stressed that the TAP plane was “in a remote position”, that is, located at a point on the runway that is only accessible to passengers by authorized transport, which causes the union to hold the airline responsible for the fact that the two passengers They were able to get off the plane.

TAP source Lusa confirmed that the company was aware of the incident from the report of the commander of the aircraft, who reported the misbehaviour of two passengers and that they had attacked an employee.

The same source added that the incident caused the flight to be delayed but did not confirm, however, that the alleged attackers were already inside the plane before the assaults occurred.

Already source of the Metropolitan Command of Lisbon (Cometlis) of the Police of Public Security (PSP) confirmed to Lusa that the police authorities of the airport were called because of this incident, having the two alleged aggressors been identified but not detained.

Fraudulent scheme in all-inclusive hotels, encouraged by tour operators, incites false food poisoning and claims for reimbursement.

British tourists are being encouraged to make false claims of food poisoning to insurance companies to receive compensation. Due to this crime there are already hotels damaged by 60 million euros and arrests of people involved with the operators in Spain.

The scheme “began to make considerable impact in Spain with the raising of offices of unscrupulous lawyers and employees who circulated in vans next to the hotels, saying Get Your Holidays for Free,” explained Cristina Siza Vieira, president Of the Hospitality Association of Portugal (AHP), to TVI24.

Similar cases have been reported in Portugal, Greece and Turkey. “We do not have exact numbers. In general, for three years this type of fraud has increased by 500%, especially in Spain, but in Portugal as well, “Sean Tipton of ABTA, the UK Association of Travel Agencies and Tour Operators, told TVI. Recently Safe Communities Portugal met with ABTA in the UK and has published advice on this matter.

But how do guests and operators go unpunished? A blackmail is orchestrated that pushes for out-of-court settlements to avoid judgments after complaints have been made. As British law is very comprehensive and allows complaints to be made up to three years after the alleged gastric disease, tourists and lawyers have the power over the situation.

The Algarve and Madeira are the most visited tourist destinations in Portugal, but there are few hotel groups that do all-inclusive activities, so the scope of fraud is not as serious in Portugal as in the neighbouring country.

In an interview with TVI24, official source of the Pestana group said that it had “about 20 complaints” at the end of last year. Complaints that are related to stays in 2014 “and that, both during the stays and later, never reported anything, neither the travel agent nor the hotel. In these cases, the Pestana group declines any responsibility indicating that they now follow the normal course.

The Group further emphasizes that its hotels are audited in a rigorous and regular manner, with a “concern of those responsible for complying with the guidelines given by the auditors in accordance with the best practices and legal requirements in force in matters of food hygiene and safety. “It concludes that unfounded claims will not be viable in the Group.