The socialist deputy in Congress, Ignacio López, has presented this morning in the lower house register together with the also deputies Fuensanta Lima, José Carlos Durán and María Dolores Narváez, the request for aid for those affected by the Sierra Bermeja fire , a battery of measures «that seeks to no one affected is left behind by this environmental tragedy at the same time that he wants the economic activity in the area to recover in the shortest possible time, “he stressed.
López explained the commitment of the Socialist Parliamentary Group with the residents of the municipalities of Sierra Bermeja and Del Valle del Genal affected by the fire that devastated these places last week. «A demonstration that is not only in words but we demonstrate it with this battery of initiatives, the fire has meant the loss of almost 10,000 hectares of forest that supposed lung, a landscape, a mountain range, of great ecological value, an environmental, cultural and economic heritage of enormous importance that requires and demands serious and rigorous solutions from the public authorities ”, he explained.
For the Socialist deputy, the loss of all that natural heritage that burned last week “has been a severe blow to everyone, but especially to its inhabitants. both in Sierra Bermeja and the Genal Valley, made up of many small municipalities that had already been demanding support measures to stop the phenomenon of depopulation. «We have to unite in this context the demographic challenge that has a special link with the climate challenge, since what all the experts tell us that the virulence of this fire, the way in which this so-called sixth generation fire has developed it has a lot to do with climate change and also with that demographic challenge, “he added.
“That is why we urge the government of Spain, in this initiative in the format of Proposition No of Law, to various proposals, but which is summarized in one, to promote the necessary measures to alleviate the effects caused by fire that has affected the Genal Valley and Sierra Bermeja, to work together with the rest of the administrations involved so that there is an exhaustive report on the damages produced, since, if legally appropriate, the burned and affected area is declared, as area severely affected by a civil protection emergency, which is what proceeds according to current regulations ”, he specified.
Thus, as explained in Proposition No of Law, the Socialists take for their parliamentary debate the preparation in coordination with the rest of the Administrations the report on the damage caused by the fire as well as that the Sánchez executive request the declaration of the seriously affected area for a civil protection emergency for all affected municipalities.
«This petition includes the implementation of direct aid for the material data produced, compensation in agricultural and livestock farms, tax benefits for the productive activity affected by the fire, bonuses, exemptions and moratoriums in the payment of Social Security contributions, the granting of advances on aid and subsidies by the General State Administration or the authorization of extraordinary credits to cover these measures, among others, ”López explained.
“In addition, we want the town councils and affected residents to be provided with the necessary support for the processing of insurance and aid as well as for the coordination and advice between the affected Administrations to be established in their development”, he added.
López recalled that the commitment to Sierra Bermeja is not only that of the Socialist Parliamentary Group, “but it also includes our government, of which we are aware of its sensitivity to the fire from the beginning, which from the first moment has been concerned and concerned, firstly for working to extinguish the fire and later for studying measures to alleviate the damage caused by this fire, also sponsored by the general secretary of the Andalusian PSOE, Juan Espadas, who from the outset asked the Junta de Andalucía to initiate the procedures for the declaration of an area especially affected by a civil protection emergency, “he said.
«We hope that this NLP will find the support of the majority of the parliamentary groups, including that of the Popular Party, it is necessary to reach a high degree of consensus to solve the situation that many families in the municipalities that border Sierra Bermeja are going through “, it is finished.