Firefighting helicopter must return to Moura Air Means Center. The infrastructure is from EDIA, but it will pass to the City Council.
Aiming for relocation, from the next day 1 June, of an initial attack helicopter for forest fires at the Air Resources Center (CMA), will take place today, by 14,30 hours, in the Moura Municipality building, a meeting that brings together the presidents of the municipality and Civil Protection and other actors working in the firefighting sector.
The CMA is located on the heliport located at the eastern end of the Alqueva dam wall and is owned by the Alqueva Infrastructure Development Company (EDIA) and will pass to the possession of the Municipal Council of Moura (CMM), hence the need to ensure the accommodation of the aircraft and the operational staff of the various institutions involved in the process.
The meeting led by Álvaro Azedo, President of the local authority, is attended by General Duarte da Costa, President of the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority (ANEPC) and the commanders of the Emergency and Protection and Relief Unit (UEPS) da GNR, of the Special Firefighter Force “Canarinhos” (FEB), of the Alentejo Regional and Baixo Alentejo Sub-Regional Commands of Civil Protection and Moura Volunteer Firefighters.
When Lidador News, Álvaro Azedo, justified that “the certification and use processes of the heliport are ongoing and hence the need to coordinate with the various entities a protocol for the correct use. The space was already a certified CMA and there are new rules to comply with and the municipality has every interest in its reactivation”, justified.
The mayor recalled that in addition to the “Canarinhos” operatives,, There is a CMA team to operate the aircraft and a correlation of forces is needed that includes the action of firefighters”, reminding the mayor that this is “very important infrastructure not only for the municipality but also for the neighboring region, including Spain”, concluded.
Álvaro Azedo maintained that “it is true that the occurrences are what they are and it is preferable not to have them, but we must take into account the extent and density of the territory”, reminding the mayor that “there is a great relationship with Spain, because of Herdade da Contenda, a territory shared by the two countries with more than 10.000 hectares”, finished.
Between 2017 and 2020 Moura Chamber, in conjunction with the then District Relief Operations Command (CDOS) and EDIA promoted a series of improvements to the facilities at CMA, but in June of this last year he suffered a setback, the firefighting helicopter was removed from the scene.
At the time, Álvaro Azedo, president of the Moorish municipality, together with their colleagues from the Municipalities of Barrancos, Serpa and Mértola sent a letter to the then Minister of Internal Administration, Eduardo Cabrita, where they requested a hearing and at the same time regretted “the lack of dialogue during the process that led to the air withdrawal”, justified.
Teixeira Correia
(journalist)
