Latest news and stories about government policy in infrastructure in Santarém, Portugal for expats and residents.
The Mission Structure for the Reconstruction of the Central Region reports that the Open Presidency's findings on recent storm management align significantly with the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP), despite identified coordination challenges.
President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa says the immediate priority in the affected areas is to restore electricity and communications after widespread outages that have left almost 200,000 customers without power and some communities—such as Colmeias and Memória in Leiria—isolated. Speaking after a journey to Ferreira do Zêzere during which he was “almost always without communications”, he warned of long‑standing structural weaknesses, urged caution and calm, and called for a collective, coordinated State response with preventive measures to manage the emergency.
Bruno Gomes, president of Ferreira do Zêzere, says the municipality still has more than 85% of its territory without electricity and communications after the storm and criticises the Government's “lack of leadership”.
Seven municipalities in Médio Tejo, in the Santarém district, have asked the Government for extraordinary aid under the state of calamity, arguing that the scale of the damage caused by Storm Kristin exceeds the normal response capacity of the local authorities.
The town council of Ferreira do Zêzere will ask the Government to declare a state of calamity in the municipality following the damage caused by the passage of Storm Kristin; it is the third municipality to do so, after Leiria and Nazaré.
