Two different tweets from Costa [num passa a responsabilidade para a câmara de Pedrógão Grande, noutro para a CIM de Leiria], apologies from the minister with the Territorial Cohesion portfolio, Ana Abrunhosa, due to the Government’s absence, and the “attempt”, DN knows from various sources, to pass on the “maintenance costs” of the Monument to the Victims of the 2017 Fires [tutela de Galamba e Medina] to the municipality of Pedrógão Grande and then to the Intercommunale [CIM] of the Leiria region.
This was the portrait of a weekend that, according to Hugo Soares, General Secretary of the PSD, was a “government plunged into a total lack of coordination, a mess from which it is impossible to extricate itself. He apologizes more often than he avoids them”.
IL leader Rui Rocha points to direct responsibilities to the Prime Minister that “he did not have the courage to appear in those areas and protected himself with baseless justifications. Ana Abrunhosa’s apologies are an attempt to contain the damage done to António Costa’s image for the utter callousness and indifference he has shown on this matter, but she herself is also the face of much that has changed over time failed”.
Minister Ana Abrunhosa justified the government’s absence, arguing that “we always had the intention to hold a tribute ceremony [referência ao Memorial da responsabilidade das Infraestruturas de Portugal (IP), empresa tutelada por João Galamba e Fernando Medina]”.
“We didn’t do it the same day [dia 17]because this day is usually a day of remembrance, where only one mass is celebrated and to which the government is usually invited and, incidentally, His Excellency the President of the Republic”, justifiably.
Translation? The government has decided not to inaugurate the Memorial on Saturday the 17th because on that day, at the initiative of the Association of Victims of the Fire of Pedrógão Grande (AVIPG), “only one mass is celebrated”. However, the IP decided to open the monument with the names of the 115 dead to the public two days earlier – without specifying the reason.
The difference? No one was invited to Mass this year. AVIPG wanted to understand “who is, in fact, a true friend and joins us because they feel they should be present”.
“From the moment we realized that our decision hurt, we must of course apologize and say that this was not our intention and that the victims have not been forgotten. It is an apology from the government in the sense that it was never our intention to cause further pain with this decision of ours.”, justified the minister who admitted to TSF that it was the criticism of the past few days that led the government to speak about the absence yesterday.
Who went on the field without an invitation? A PSD delegation led by the secretary, IL and Chega dropped by.
Who wasn’t? All other parties and the President of the Republic.
“This year we were not aware of any ceremony [a missa de todos os anos]we had no invitation and therefore no member of government was on site”explains the minister.
And Marcello? “There was no ceremony organized by the association or any official body, so I decided to do what I did last year, which was to go incognito.”.
Local source has only one comment for Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa’s explanation. “If you wanted to come incognito you could have come because you say there was no ceremony so you could even go incognito as you want”.
Dina Duarte, from AVIPG, has only one sentence for the president’s absence: “Even Marcelo forgot about Pedrógão, it’s sad”. For the other absentees it was the realization of “who is not or has never been with us”.
And what did Costa say about the Memorial’s inauguration? Two things. First he wrote in a tweet that “the work designed by Eduardo Souto Moura has been completed this week, on a date to be chosen by the City Council and in agreement with the families, then we must permanently honor those we have lost”.
What was the surprise in Pedrogão? The work belongs to the government [ministério das Infraestruturas e Finanças] and the mayor immediately denied that the inauguration of the monument depends on the Pedrógão council.
“There was no contact with the municipality of Pedrógão Grande in this regard (…) A ceremony should have taken place in honor of the memory of the victims, but I had only previously been informed by Infraestruturas de Portugal that the monument would be open to the publicexplained António Lopes, the mayor.
Next step? Ana Abrunhosa summoned all the mayors of the municipal councils and the president of the association Associação de Vítimas do Incendio de Pedrógão Grande to give “a strong hug of solidarity for this day”.
And what does Costa say about the inauguration of the Memorial? The first tweet has been deleted and now says “the work designed by Eduardo Souto Moura has been completed this week, on a date to be chosen by the CIM and in agreement with the families, then we must permanently honor those we have lost”.
Ana Abrunhosa then explains in statements to Lusa that “the government is consulting with the Leiria CIM and the victims’ organization about a suitable date for us to proceed with the inauguration of the monument” because “it was not possible to reconcile dates”.
“Dates? What dates?”, is the surprised expression of a mayor. António Lopes, mayor of Pedrógão Grande, assured on Saturday afternoon that he had never been approached by the Prime Minister’s office to choose a date for an inauguration or tribute and that “no contact has been made with the municipality of Pedrógão Grande in that regard”.
At the end of Saturday afternoon, and never before, the Minister of Territorial Cohesion, Ana Abrunhosa – António Lopes and the other mayors of the Intermunicipal Community of Leiria and the Association of Fire Victims of Pedrógão Grande would contact him.
“It is the total lack of responsibility and solidarity towards those people and those areas that, in addition to the lack of coordination, demonstrates a total insensitivity on the part of the governmentHugo Soares.
It’s Costa’s “heavy conscience”says Rui Rocha, “with regard to the population affected by the tragedy of Pedrógão Grande, Castanheira de Pera and Figueiró dos Vinhos. The government can apologize but is unable to restore hope to the interior, the victims of the fires and their families.”.
Source: DN
