PAN/Açores calls for stable firefighter funding
Azores GuidePAN/Açores called for stable funding for firefighter corporations and said it is open to a civil protection levy for associations.
From March next year, rescue services at ANA-VINCI airports in Santa Maria, Ponta Delgada, Faial and Flores will no longer be provided by voluntary firefighter associations and will move to a private operator.
Rádio Atlântida said PAN/Açores' parliamentary representation met the Azores regional secretariat of the National Association of Professional Firefighters on Monday to discuss the sector's main challenges. The topics included funding for associations, working conditions, career recognition and firefighters at the region's airports.
PAN/Açores said the meeting came amid concern over airport firefighters, including those at Santa Cruz das Flores airport. It said the operating conditions of protection and safety services must be monitored and safeguarded.
PAN/Açores spokesperson and sole deputy Pedro Neves called for urgent career-recognition measures to avoid a "dramatic reduction" in the number of firefighters in the Azores. The party also warned of what it described as a persistent failure by the Government and municipalities to meet their financial responsibilities to firefighter corporations, which it said compromises associations' operational capacity.
Neves said corporations need a stable, predictable funding model suited to their real needs. PAN/Açores said it is open to a residual civil protection levy, with revenue directed to the associations, and supports earlier retirement for firefighters. The party said its 2024 proposal for a Statute for Professional Firefighters was rejected and that it has made the demand since its firefighter risk-allowance initiative was approved in 2021.
This site previously reported that ANA airport firefighters in Azores may move to private provider.
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Azores Guide
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