Portugal unveils aid package for fire victims

LISBON, Aug 25 (AFP) - Portugal's centre-right government on Monday outlined a package of measures it has put in place to help families affected by a wave of wildfires that claimed 18 lives earlier this month, amid growing criticism of its handling of the emergency.

Government spokesman Nuno Morais Sarmento told a news conference "everything will be done to get over this catastrophe".

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"The government wants to respond quickly to the real needs of all those who suffered damage in the fires," he added.

Morais Sarmento said just over 400 people had so far made requests for state aid and the government had already handed out just over one million euros (1.1 million dollars) in financial assistance.

Among the measures which the government has approved is the payment of a monthly subsidy to those who have lost their livelihoods because of the fires, which were fueled by a heatwave that struck much of Europe.

The government of Prime Minister Jose Manuel Durao Barroso has also offered to cover the funeral costs of the 18 victims of the fast-moving blazes and is offering the families of the deceased an emergency grant of just over 400 euros.

A total of 85 families lost their homes because of the fires, while 220 people saw their places of work close because of fire damage, according to preliminary labour ministry estimates.

Forestry officials said Friday fires have burned some 336,000 hectares (830, 000 acres) of forest and scrubland so far this year according to a provisional estimate, much of it since the end of July when a rash of wildfires swept large parts of central and southern Portugal.

If the estimate is confirmed, this will be the largest area of Portugal hit by forest fires since figures began to be collated in 1980.

There are some 3.3 million hectares of forested land in Portugal.

Durao Barroso declared the fires a national disaster earlier this month and said his government would make more than 100 million euros in aid available to those directly affected by the blazes.

Morais Sarmento said the government was still evaluating the fire damage but believed it would have to increase the amount of aid it makes available to affected families.

The government came under increased criticism for its handling of the crisis over the weekend, with the main opposition Socialists joining media calls for Durao Barroso to reshuffle his cabinet.

Socialist leader Eduardo Ferro Rodrigues said Saturday that the fires had highlighted a number of weaknesses in the ruling cabinet. He was especially critical of Interior Minister Antonio Figueiredo Lopes, whom he accused of having mismanaged the fight against the flames.

Rodrigues also blasted the government for having cut funding for fire prevention programs shortly after it came to power in April 2002 and for refusing a Socialist demand that a parliamentary inquiry into the wildfires be held.

"The government must account for what its performance in this area has been in the last year and a half," he said.

While the government has rejected a formal parliamentary inquiry, it says it is preparing an internal investigation, a "white book", into the wildfires which it will present to parliament by October 15.

Local media have reported that forestry patrols, which used to be round-the-clock, were limited to daylight hours this year because of government cutbacks.

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