The contract, whose public tender announcement was published in Diário da República (Official Gazette), provides for "the construction of the memorial, road access, including a turnaround area for circulation from the south and renovation of the marginal landscape of EN [national road] 236-1," said an official source from IP, in response to questions from Lusa news agency.
Along around two kilometres of the national road where many of the victims of the Pedrógão Grande fire died, "a number of different native tree species will also be planted", he added.
Most of the investment (around 1.4 million Euros) will be used to build the memorial, he said.
According to the same source, IP expects the work to be concluded during the first half of 2022.
In 2019, at a session held in the municipality of Castanheira de Pera, a protocol was signed between the Association of Victims of the Pedrógão Grande Fire (AVIPG) and Infraestruturas de Portugal for the construction of the memorial.
The design of the memorial is by the architect Eduardo Souto Moura, and will consist of a raft of water connected to a fountain, symbolising life and birth.
"Water as purification is a cross-cutting element in all cultures and religions," said the architect at the time, stressing that the water raft designed has the "dual function of evoking rebirth, which we think will happen and, if there is another fire, the firefighters have a place to get water".
Arguably a better, more long lasting memorial for the victims of the fire would be to ensure that all relevant local authorities have the funding and computer systems to create totally publicly accessible information on
1) The 'ZIF's' - Independent Forest Zones set up to create community based management of forestry to minimise the risks of fire.
2) Lists of all members of 'ZIF's'
3) All members of 'ZIF's' would include all entitled to a share in or ownership of a property within a 'ZIF' by way of inheritance.
4) Regular quarterly reporting of measures taken by each member or designated member of a 'ZIF' to comply with the 'ZIF' land management plan
5) Regular quarterly reporting of non-compliance with individual personal requirements by landowners in a 'ZIF' and enforcement action taken and outcome recorded.
6) Where no compliance leads to enforcement, that should be undertaken in relation to minimising the potential for forest fires by the local authority and the cost reclaimed from the landowner either immediately, or by use of the Portuguese law of 'Subrogation' by attaching it to the property as a debt that must be repaid on completion of the sale of the property, the liability having been disclosed to the potential purchaser - because the debt under Portuguese property law apparently passes with the property to the otherwise unwitting purchaser.
Why would this be a lasting fitting tribute to those who lost their lives fighting the fire:
Fire services can minimise fire risk and where it does occur, minimise the chances of the fire spreading and becoming a major threat to loss of life, livelihoods, property and wild life habitats.
By Richard Charman from Other on 12 Feb 2021, 14:46