Dear Friends and Supporters

Bit of feed back from last Friday night in Monchique at meeting with Council in the Alferce village. It is heart breaking seeing the destruction in this previous paradise. 

The Alferce village itself was spared from the fires, but its surrounding countryside was 90% destroyed. When fire started, Alferce had no support from Civil Protection, Bombeiros, etc … the village had to look after itself on their own. It was due to the brave work of its residents that there were no human casualties, although the number of animals burned in the fire and destruction of ecosystems was extensive. It was fortunate that there was a feast in the village that night, which saw many of the parish residents being in the village.

Feedback about assistance from council & government for fire victims.

All the homes (that are used as the only accommodation) that burned down will be rebuild. For each and everyone of the families affected which houses will be rebuilt, the council is providing full house contents, from furniture, to linen, cutlery, white goods ... everything NEW but it must be purchased ONLY at local shops in Monchique!

Currently we don’t really know how many fall into this category, as the numbers doing the rounds is not consistent. (But the number mentioned is that about 30 residential homes were totally or partially destroyed by fire). According to our latest information, there are just over 100 people that are directly affected, this number include people that will receive support from the council. At present we are still accessing the situation on the ground.

For these that will qualify for assistance the following applies: people that were living in rented accommodation which homes were also burned:

Houses will be rebuilt, but the landlords have to provide a rental contract for 15 years for the tenants that were affected. Thus tenants will be protected, unlike what has happened before in Monchique and in other areas of the country.

Until homes are rebuilt the council will contribute with 5€ per square meter towards the rent. Example. If new rental is 100m2 the council will assist with 500€

For people that will be living in hotel's until their property is ready again, there's a contribution of 53,70€ per person per day provide by Monchique council/government.

Some people are going to fall in between the cracks. These are the ones we need to identify and assist in our opinion. So far we have identified that many people and families living an alternative lifestyle will not all be receiving support from government.  So far we have identified 18 families that fall into this scenario, but we know that there are more. We will be clarifying this situation with authorities, and will provide more info after our meeting with mayor and president of junta tomorrow (Wednesday).

Another area that ASMAA will support is in helping clearing and rebuilding outbuildings. Currently we are still accessing what is required in this regard. In the meanwhile for people that will qualify, the government will be providing a line of support with the PDR 2020. At this stage we still unclear what it will cover and how. For the next 6 months we want to continue to help as many of the fire victims from Monchique and Silves that we can, get their lives back as much as possible within our capacity and with help from others with whom we have a close collaboration relationship, built over a period of time and since last year fires in the north and center of Portugal.

It is now reaching the stage in that we will need to start delivering many of the items and goods that we have in storage currently both in Barão de São João and in our charity shop in Portimão (which we are maintaining closed due to the fact that we are still sorting through all donations received). Many of the collections and deliveries that we have done so far, has resulted in ASMAA carrying heavy transport costs when our friends vans were already in use. That made us realise that if we want to be effective, we need our own van, so that we can collect and deliver furniture items to where it’s most needed as quickly as possible.

HELP US PURCHASE A DELIVERY VAN TO ASSIST FIRE AFFECTED FAMILIES

We have now found a van (a Toyota Hiace) in very good condition, and which is totally suitable to meet our present needs which is to deliver items and goods to Monchique fire victims in the next 6-months. To be effective we need a reliable van. We have now found one. The van that we have identified comes with a price tag of 3,800€. Thanks to donations received for this purpose we already have 1675€ towards it.

We thank all the donors that assisted us already, big and small to make it possible. We had 2 big donations, one for 1000€ and one for 500€. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

We are now short 2125€ to go ahead and purchase it. Today the seller has given us until Friday to raise the funds, but at this price we run the risk of loosing it if we can’t pay for it by then, as it is a very good price, and sure to be snapped up if we can't raise the money needed to buy it.

Our deadline is Friday the 7 September.

We now appeal to you to help us by donating 20€, 50€, 100€ or whatever amount you can spare from your budget.
If you would like to help us buy the charity van please donate today

Via PayPal (including credit card payments): info@asmaa-algarve.org or through the donate button on our website: http://asmaa-algarve.org/en/donate
Via Bank Transfer (EFT) -BANK: SANTANDER TOTTA (LAGOS ALGARVE)
ASMAA Algarve Surf and Marine Activities Association
IBAN: PT50 0018 0008 02686698020 51
REF: VAN - FIRES

If you need a Donation Receipt for tax purposes, please email us copy of your donation, plus your name, NIF (Fiscal Number), address and telephone number. Receipts for September will be issued in October. Currently we busy finishing receipts for July and August.

VOLUNTEER WITH US

If you would like to volunteer to help us sort items in our storage area in ASMAA’s Portimão charity shop please get in touch with us.
We are very short of hands at present. We will provide you with tea, coffee, and a snack for lunch AND A BIG HUG!

Once again thank you for all the support over the years. We are counting on you to once again help us to help others.

PS: Regarding the Galp/ENI oil exploration issue, our legal team and we, are busy with next step, and are preparing ourselves to launch our 3rd legal process shortly, but more info about that next week.

Once again, a very big THANK YOU from all of us at ASMAA and from all that you assist us in assisting so far. We are truly grateful.

Kind regards

Laurinda Seabra
ASMAA CEO
Presidente da Direção da ASMAA

ASMAA - ALGARVE SURF AND MARINE ACTIVITIES ASSOCIATION
NIPC:              510 381 952
URL:               www.asmaa-algarve.org
Email:             info@asmaa-algarve.org
Address:        Rua Dr. Alberto Iria, Lote 12, R/Esquerdo, Lagos, 8600-580
Tel:                 282 182 103 / 969 320 231
Facebook:     https://www.facebook.com/groups/asmaaalgarve/