The President of the Republic announced yesterday that he only heard from the press about the ceremony scheduled for the next 27th in honor of the victims of the Pedrógão Grande fire (which took place in 2017 and killed 66 people) . The ceremony will take place at the monument designed by architect Souto Moura, located next to Estrada Nacional 236-1, in the Pobrais district, which was opened last Thursday without any public ceremony.
In a statement, Marcelo not only says that no one has officially invited him, but also adds that he will not go in any case. The first point of the “Note from the Presidency of the Republic” reads: “The President of the Republic learned through the media of the June 27 inauguration ceremony of the monument in honor of the victims of the 2017 fires in Pedrógão Grande.”
He then adds in point 2: “As is known, the President of the Republic will be in Italy on that date for a meeting of COTEC Europe, together with Italian President Sérgio Mattarella and King Felipe VI of Spain, a meeting that will end in the early afternoon. impossible to be back in Portugal before its end.”
And concludes: “The president of the republic had already announced his intention to visit the region hit by the terrible fires six years ago later this month..”
The date, June 27, was announced to Lusa yesterday by the president of the Intercommunal of the Region of Leiria (CIMRL), Gonçalo Lopes (PS), who is also mayor of Leiria. “It is not exactly an inauguration, because the monument is already open. It will be a ceremony to visit the space and pay tribute to the victims of the 2017 fires,” said the mayor in Porto de Mós. , in the margins of a meeting of intermunicipal companies.
According to the President of CIMRL, the initiative will be attended by members of the government such as the Prime Minister, António Costa, and the Minister of Territorial Cohesion, Ana Abrunhosa, mayors of the affected regions, the Association of Victims of the Fire of Pedrógão Grande, other entities connected to the social and associative area of these councils, the author of the monument and the population. In the same statements, Gonçalo Lopes clarified that the CIMRL would be “responsible for the maintenance of the monument”.
The memorial, an investment of 1.8 million euros, includes a lake of about 2,500 square meters, fed by a 60-meter-long gargoyle, bordered by a strip of plants consisting of white water lilies, lilies and buttercups. A wall along the lake has the names of the victims of the 2017 fire engraved on it.
On the 17th, the day that passed six years after the fire, the monument was opened to the public, but the absence of state figures was criticized by the Association of Fire Victims of Pedrógão Grande. Marcelo justified his absence with the lack of an organized ceremony. “I’ve decided to do what I did last year, which is to go incognito,” the president said.
Source: DN
