Portuguese Sagas – Fires

16^th of October 2017

I am angry and sad.

The 7^th summer I live in my lovely country the fires are raving through the central and north part this weekend.

 

Portugal is beautiful, it is small and it could be heaven on earth but it is like hell this summer.

Why?

Why do I get a call from a friend up north in the morning and the village has been devastated through the night? People have lost their homes. People have lost their lives. People are desperate.

This hour I can’t breathe properly inside my apartment in Penela. The sky is thick with smoke. The sun has disappeared. Everything smells like fire. There is no rain. There is draught. There is desperation.

Why does the government take action?

Why have they said for the last 7 summers that this is a big problem but they don´t do anything?

I am cried this morning when my friend told me about their desperation during the night, the desperation when trying to save their house. They managed to save the house and are not hurt physically.

I drove through a fire 5 years ago, when on my way home from the beach. I never forget the horror.

Today I have not gone out. It is like something inside me has been turned off and there is just emptiness and sorrow.

I know people in the government. I know people that want to do something. I know people who have lost everything in this horrible disaster.

Now I plead to those who have got the power. Please do something. Please don´t wait for the next catastrophic incident. There will always be another summer. Now is the time to stop talking and implement.

Now is the time to show that you are more than less.

Now is the time I rely on you who govern my tiny country to save it from destruction.

Now is the time to be brave and acknowledge that arsenics are the terrorists in the country.

Now is the time to acknowledge that terrorists have to be punished. They cannot just be judged in sane and set free.

Until you, the government stop being cowards, nothing will change.

I beg of you. Please show why people trusted you to govern the tiny beautiful country, for the good of all.

Hulda Björnsdóttir