Year: 2019

Lisbon, 05 Jun 2019 (Lusa) – The number of deaths on Portuguese roads has risen in the first five months of the year over the same period, as well as the number of seriously injured, despite fewer accidents, according to official provisional data.

According to the latest figures of the National Road Safety Authority (ANSR), between January 1 and May 31 of this year 192 people died on Portuguese roads, 10 more than in the same period (182).

In the same period, 802 serious injuries were recorded, 73 more than in the first five months of 2018.

Between January 1 and May 31 of this year there were 52,737 accidents, 59 fewer than in the same period last year (52,796).

The ANSR also indicates that 16,114 people suffered minor injuries, 551 more than in the same period last year (15,563).

Thefigures of the ANSR, which gathers data from the GNR and PSP, also points out that in the last week of May (22-31 May) 16 people died on the roads and 73 were severely injured.

ANSR data also indicate that between June 1, 2018 and May 31, 2019, the number of deaths on the roads increased to 518 (11 more than in the period from June 1, 2017 to May 31, 2018), while of serious injuries rose to 2,214 (over 102).

Between June 1, 2018 and May 31, 2019, the district with the highest number of fatalities resulting from accidents was Porto (60), followed by Setúbal (53), Lisbon (53), Aveiro (41) and Leiria (39).

The district of Lisbon was the district with the most serious injuries (308), followed by Porto (218) and Setúbal (173).

The data of the National Road Safety Authority concern the dead whose death was declared at the scene of the accident or on the way to the hospital.

The President of the Assembly of the Republic, Eduardo Ferro Rodrigues, today sent to the parliamentary leaders a draft resolution to consecrate June 17 as National Day in Memory of Victims of Forest Fires, according to information sent to Lusa .

The initiative should be voted on this Friday. In the text sent to the parliamentary leaders, Ferro Rodrigues recalls that “June 17, 2017 will remain in history as the day when the most deadly forest fire in Portugal took place, continuing for more than a week in the municipalities of Pedrógão Grande, Castanheira de Pera, Ansião, Alvaiázere, Figueiró dos Vinhos, Arganil, Góis, Penela, Pampilhosa da Serra, Oleiros and Sertã.

This fire, which broke out in Escalos Fundeiros, Pedrógão Grande county, and which later spread to neighbouring municipalities in the districts of Leiria, Coimbra and Castelo Branco, caused 66 deaths and 253 injuries, seven of them seriously, and destroyed about 500 houses , 261 of which were permanent housing, and 50 companies.

“The Assembly of the Republic, an organ of sovereignty representative of all Portuguese citizens, was sensitive to the unrest caused by a tragedy of this magnitude, so brutal and so cruel,” reads the text of the initiative. The high number of injuries and significant damage to property, “highlighting the approximately five hundred housing units, one third of which is the first housing, and half a hundred industrial units in several sectors,” in addition to the large losses in equipment and various infrastructures.

” The initiative also states that it is now up to the parliament to “create the conditions to honour the mortal victims of this great fire, evoking its memory.” Considering “just the appeal of the Association of Fire Victims of Pedrógão Grande so that June 17 be dedicated to the memory of those who lost their lives in forest fires,” Eduardo Ferro Rodrigues proposes to the Assembly of the Republic to consecrate that as the Day National Report on Victims of Forest Fires.

The president of the Assembly of the Republic also points out that the initiative aims to “evoke the men, women and children who lost their lives in 2017, but also those who, throughout our history, have succumbed to the scourge of forest fires in Portugal “. Ferro Rodrigues concludes that the initiative is also intended to “remember that a tragedy like that which occurred in 2017 cannot be repeated”. The note sent to Lusa also indicates that Ferro Rodrigues is the first subscriber of the draft resolution that “should count on the support of the parliamentary groups”.

The Public Safety Police and other partners know the importance of your child in your life.

We want you to make the most of this relationship and the Bracelet I AM HERE! ® To help you with this mission.

The I’M HERE! ® Program is designed so you never miss a moment of your children’s presence, and helps reunify the child with parents if the child goes missing.

I’M HERE – Children´s safety programme: involves the issue of a bracelet.

The program runs from 1^st June 2019 to 31^st May 2020

It is designed for children from 2 to 10 years old but bracelets for children under the age of 2 may exceptionally be available if they are demonstrably capable of walking alone.

The I’M HERE! ® bracelet has been developed to high quality standards. The tests performed ensure that the fabric is prepared to withstand up to 12 months without losing quality.

The bracelet consists of a fabric ribbon containing an alphanumeric code and the inscription “Call / LIGA 112”.

The bracelet can be order on-line from the official website for collection at a nominated police station

PSP contact details concerning the program here Telephone: 218 111 087 (from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.) Email: estouaqui@psp.pt

 

Yesterday 2^nd July 2019 the U.S. State Department began implementing its requirement that nearly all U.S. visa applicants submit their social media usernames, previous email addresses and phone numbers as part of the application process.

The new requirement, which could affect up to 15 million would-be travellers to the U.S., is part of a broad expansion of enhanced screening under the Trump administration.

First proposed in March 2018, the State Department only just updated the application forms to request the additional information, aciording to a report from Associated Press.

“National security is our top priority when adjudicating visa applications, and every prospective traveer and immigrant to the United States undergoes extensive security screening,” the department said in a statement to the AP.

“We are constantly working to find mechanisms to improve our screening processes to protect U.S. citizens, while supporting legitimate travel to the United States.”

In the past, this enhanced screening information, including email, phone numbers and social media had only been required for applicants who had been identified for extra scrutiny — primarily people who had travlled to areas with a high degree of terrorist activity. Roughly 65,000 applicants per-year had fallen into that category, according to the AP.

When the State Department first filed its notice of the changes, it estimated that 710,000 immigrant visa applications and 14 million nonimmigrant visa applicants would be affected — including business and student travelers.

New questions on the visa application forms list social media platforms and require applicants to provide any account names they may have had on them for a five-year period. The forms also request phone numbers and email addresses applicants have used over the past five years, along with their international travel and deportation status and whether any family members have been involved in terrorist activities.

 

City councils have until end of Friday  31^st May  to ensure land clearing, replacing landlords and other forest producers in default, in order to avoid penalties for current transfers from the Financial Equilibrium Fund (ETF).

In the scope of the Exceptional Regime of the Secondary Networks of Fuel Management, inserted in the Law of the State Budget for 2019, as in 2018, the city councils have to guarantee “the accomplishment of all the works of fuel management, owners and other forest producers in default”.

Between April 1 and May 26 of this year, the National Republican Guard (GNR) initiated “1,710 new infractions to owners for lack of fuel management (cleaning of the forest), on average 40 infractions per day during this period.

During the year 2018, this security force raised 8,425 infractions due to lack of clearing of forest land, which corresponds to an average of 23 infractions identified per day.

In order for municipalities to be able to replace non-compliant landlords, the law states that “landowners and other forest producers are obliged to allow access to their land and to reimburse the town council for expenses incurred in the management of fuel.”

In order to ensure the payment of the costs of the land clearing work, municipalities can apply by September 30 to the line of credit to finance the cleaning of the forest, totaling 50 million euros, as happened in 2018.

In Portugal, about three thousand people, including operatives and extras, will participate in this simulacrum that intends to test the responses of the various national authorities that integrate Civil Protection. There will also be teams from Madeira and the Azores, as well as overseas

. And the unfolding of the exercise can be followed in the account of the National Authority of Emergency and Civil Protection ANEPC, Facebook page.

The exercises will take place in the districts of Aveiro (Águeda, Albergaria-a-Velha, Aveiro, Ílhavo and Sever do Vouga); Lisbon (Alenquer, Amadora, Cascais, where the effect of a tsunami will be tested on 31st to remove people from the beaches of Conceição and Duquesa, Lisbon, Odivelas and Sintra); Setúbal (Almada, Barreiro, Seixal, Sesimbra and Setúbal) and Évora (Arraiolos, Vendas Novas, Évora, Montemor-o-Novo, Viana do Alentejo and Reguengos de Monsaraz).

In addition to the firefighters, GNR, PSP, PJ, SEF, INEM, Directorate General of the Maritime Authority, IPMA and several other entities, will participate in these exerciseswith teams from Spain (specialists in nuclear, radiological, biological and chemical rescue – NRBQ – and a vessel specialized in combating pollution of the sea); France (NRBQ response module), Germany (NRBQ water purification and detection module), Croatia (urban search and rescue specialists) and elements of the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) which will have a specialized combat vessel to pollution at sea.

“We will have 64 active scenarios, not at the same time, and with different durations,” said DN Patrícia Gaspar, 2nd national operational commander of the ANEPC .

In this simulacrum the intervention of the various rescue authorities will be necessary in two extreme cases: an episode of adverse weather conditions that affects mainly the district of Aveiro and that has serious consequences in the building, public and industrial infrastructures and a break in a dam.

The second situation will be an earthquake that affects the districts of Lisbon, Setúbal and Évora. Both in Aveiro and Setúbal, the responses to the spill of a dangerous substance due to an industrial accident (in the port of Setúbal) and a collision at a dock in the port of Aveiro will be tested, which will cause a tanker to spill fuel oil for the sea.

The scenarios for these exercises are staggered at three levels, as Patricia Gaspar explains: “Level 1 is at the local level, we will test local emergency situations, such as evacuations from schools, the second level is district, where it will be necessary to request support of district structures, the third level is national and that is where the international teams will be put in. All levels are important because there is an interaction. ”

In Lisbon, for example, “there will be situations of people withdrawing from schools and other small incidents in various parts of the city,” said the ANEPC official.

In order to carry out these exercises, ANEPC and the municipal civil protection services involved organized teams of volunteers that will act as extras in the scenarios. “We will count on municipal officials, children, scouts, members of the associations that have made themselves available to participate,” says Patrícia Gaspar.

The participation of hundreds of elements involved in civil protection in this exercise will not have an impact on the response to real distress situations in a week when high temperatures are expected, says the 2nd ANEPC operational commander. “The fire-fighting device is not included and in case of real occurrence, if necessary, the means will be made available”, he guarantees.

 

 

Coimbra, Portugal, May 28, 2019 (Lusa) – CybELE, a Portuguese company based in the European Space Agency incubation centre is developing technology that uses satellite images to identify environmental crimes, it said on Tuesday.

The project began with the concern of Robin Bouvier from France who, after years of working as a legal adviser to an environmental organisation realised that most environmental protection laws were not enforced and he decided to do something to improve the application of the laws, he told Lusa.

“The images are processed according to the client’s needs and can create a visual idea of the kind of environmental damage and the impact. For instance, we can generate a mask to highlight deforestation or illegal logging in a region or to identify the chemical compounds in an oil spill or other kinds of ground pollution”, he said.

Robin Bouvier told Lusa that the CybELE technology saves time and money to investigate the evidence and to identify and calculate the cost of the environmental damage.

Apart from being useful to law firms and insurance companies, he hopes that the technology can also assist NGOs, governments or international associations that operate in this area.

“The technology lets you monitor a huge area remotely, but much more can be done to improve the accuracy of the satellite images and with the new generation of satellites our analysis will improve”, he added

Face às previsões meteorológicas para os próximos dias, que apontam para um significativo agravamento do risco de incêndio florestal no território do Continente, o Ministro da Administração Interna e o Ministro da Agricultura, Florestas e Desenvolvimento Rural assinaram hoje o Despacho que determina a Declaração da Situação de Alerta no período compreendido entre as 20h00 de hoje, dia 24 de maio, e as 23h59 do dia 30 de maio, para o território continental.

A Declaração de Situação de Alerta resulta dos seguintes fatores:

• As informações do Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera (IPMA) sobre as condições meteorológicas para a globalidade do território do Continente;
• O índice meteorológico de risco de incêndio florestal – FWI, calculado e disponibilizado pelo IPMA, é elevado para os próximos 6 dias;
• Os comunicados técnico‐operacionais emitidos pela Autoridade Nacional de Emergência e Proteção Civil (ANEPC) que determinam a passagem ao Estado de Alerta Especial Amarelo do Dispositivo Especial de Combate a Incêndios Rurais nos distritos de Beja, Castelo Branco, Évora, Faro, Lisboa, Portalegre, Santarém e Setúbal;
• A necessidade de adotar medidas preventivas e especiais de reação face ao risco de incêndio.

 

 

 

As medidas de caráter excecional no âmbito da Situação de Alerta são:

• Elevação do grau de prontidão e resposta operacional por parte da GNR e da PSP, com reforço de meios para operações de vigilância, fiscalização, patrulhamentos dissuasores de comportamentos e de apoio geral às operações de proteção e socorro que possam vir a ser desencadeadas;
• Proibição da realização de queimadas e de queimas de sobrantes de exploração;
• Dispensa dos trabalhadores dos setores público e privado que desempenhem cumulativamente as funções de bombeiro voluntário, nos termos dos artigos 26.º e 26.º-A do Decreto-Lei n.º 241/2007;
• A emissão de Aviso à População pela Autoridade Nacional de Emergência e Proteção Civil sobre o perigo de incêndio rural;
• A solicitação à Força Aérea, através do Ministério da Defesa Nacional, da disponibilização de meios aéreos para, se necessário, estarem operacionais nos CMA a determinar pela ANEPC;
• O imediato acionamento das estruturas de coordenação institucional territorialmente competentes (Centro de Coordenação Operacional Nacional e Centros de Coordenação Operacionais Distritais)

24 de maio, 2019

The mainland is currently until 23.59 hrs on May 30, in the Alert Situation, due to the meteorological forecasts that “point to a significant increase in the risk of rural fires.”

According to a statement from the Ministry of Internal Administration (MAI), the minister’s joint dispatch with this authority and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development “announcing the Special Yellow Alert State of the Special Device to Combat Rural Fires in districts of Beja, Castelo Branco, Évora, Faro, Lisbon, Portalegre, Santarém and Setúbal.”

In view of this information, the Government has determined that the whole Continental Territory will be placed on Alert, which implies the adoption of “exceptional measures” such as “raising the level of readiness and operational response by the GNR and PSP” for operations surveillance and monitoring and support to the population.

Burnings and burnings of surplus are also prohibited and the dismissal of workers from the public and private sectors who are voluntary firefighters is allowed.

The Air Force is also requested to provide air support in case of need and the coordination mechanisms for national and district operations were immediately activated.

In 2018, 3,343 drug seizures (all types) were registered, of which 2,928 are recorded by weight and 412 in units and 3 in liquid form.

Cocaine appears as the narcotic with largest amounts seized.

Cocaine Seizures

In 2018, in terms of combating cocaine trafficking, approximately 5.53 tonnes were seized, in a total of 498 cases. The amount of cocaine seized increased by 102.6% in 2018, compared to with the previous year, standing at 5,538.23 kg compared with 2,734.16 kg seized in 2017. This is the highest since 2015.

The increase in quantities seized is associated with an increase of 16.9% in the number of cases which rose from 426 to 498, which is the highest in the last five years.

Of the quantities seized 90.9% (5,036.07 kg) was by the Judicial Police. The GNR also recorded a very significant increase in the quantities seized, from 45.5 kg in 2017 to 365. 51 kg in 2018.

In seizures of cocaine, the sea route continues to be the used for the transportation of high quantities, reaching in 2018 a total of 3,101.16 kg in 8 cases. These values represent 56% of the total cocaine seized, but only 1.61% of cases,

The overland route comes with 2,117.51 ​​kg (38.23%) in 342 cases (68.67%), followed by the airway with 309.76 kg seized in 105 cases.

Routes

As recorded in previous years, the national territory continues to be used by several groups and organizations as a transit point for significant quantities of cocaine from the Latin America and the Caribbean, whose final destination is for other European countries.

Based on the division of the various flows identified by geographic area of ​​origin, as in previous years Brazil stands out both for the number of seizures (100) and for the amount seized (277.70 kg). In terms of quantities, Martinique, with 840,00 kg, and Colombia, with 485.45 kg, appear as the main countries of origin of cocaine seized.

Regarding the destinations Spain was identified as a destination country of 2,148.95 kg 18 seizures, corresponding to 38.8% of the total cocaine seized, but only3.6% of the total seizures.

With the same number of cases, France was a destination country with 870.21 kg of cocaine seized. Only 12 were the final destination were non-European countries

Portugal was identified as a destination country of 1,007.73 kg seized on 67 occasions.

It should be noted that of the 498 seizures registered there is only information on the route in 123 situations, the others being unknown.

At the national level, the districts where the largest quantities of cocaine are: Lisbon (2,419.54kg), Azores (2,270.39 kg), Setúbal (481.87 kg) and Santarem (340.03kg).

As regards the number of seizures, only two districts exceed 100 cases: Lisbon with 148 and Faro with 102.