LISBON, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro announced on Thursday that the government has increased the value of its disaster relief plan to 3.5 billion euros (4.13 billion U.S. dollars), up from the initial estimate of 2.5 billion euros, in response to the damage caused by recent severe storms.
Speaking during a biweekly parliamentary debate, Montenegro said the expanded package includes an additional one billion euros and is primarily aimed at supporting affected people and businesses, particularly in the country's central region. He noted that the first compensation payments were made just 15 days after Storm Kristin struck western and central Portugal on Jan. 28.
The prime minister described the measures as unprecedented in terms of speed, scope and impact, stressing that the scale of destruction requires a long-term recovery effort rather than simple repairs.
Montenegro also announced that the Council of Ministers will approve on Friday the general guidelines of a new national recovery framework, the Portugal Transformation, Recovery and Resilience (PTRR), described as a "purely Portuguese" counterpart to the EU-funded recovery plan.
Although no overall budget or timeframe has yet been defined, the plan will be built on three pillars: recovery focused on affected populations and companies; strengthened resilience to future extreme weather events through investment in infrastructure, planning and prevention; and institutional reforms.
As part of the PTRR, the government plans to pursue reforms of the National Institute of Medical Emergency (INEM) and the National Authority for Emergency and Civil Protection, as well as improvements to the security of critical infrastructures, including emergency communications systems.
According to Montenegro, the objective is to better prepare Portugal for future crises by enhancing prevention, coordination and response capacity across multiple sectors, including water management, forestry, energy, communications and cybersecurity. (1 euro = 1.18 U.S. dollar) ■
