AN AUSTRALIAN firm is set to begin gold mining in the Alentejo following discoveries in the region of Montemor-o-Novo.

Iberian Resources (IR) is poised to extract a minimum of 10 tonnes over the next few years. The company’s administrator in Portugal, João Carlos Sousa, says that IR is currently investigating projects in the region of Montemor-o-Novo and Portalegre. Sousa said that, once a feasibility study had been carried out, gold mining could begin as early as 2007. The company has apparently identified a reserve of 500,000 ounces of gold (15 tons) within a 17 square kilometre area.

Forest fires double in first six months of year

TWICE AS many fires have occurred in Portugal so far this year, compared to the average for the last four years, according to data from the Direcção-Geral dos Recursos Florestais (DGRF), the director general of forestry resources. Figures also reveal that, during the first half of the year, the number of fires was 70 per cent higher than in the same period last year. Brush fires have already destroyed more than three times the average annual loss between January and June. In total, there have already been 17,700 incidents since the beginning of the year,almost twice the average 9,500 incidents recorded over the previous four years. These figures place Portugal well ahead of other countries in terms of forest fires, even though the country’s total forestry area is four to five times smaller than that of Spain, Italy and France.

Other figures confirm Portugal’s reputation as a high fire risk zone. Statistics for the period between 1980 and 2002 point to 16,500 occurrences, well ahead of Spain at 14,800 incidents, the country occupying second place on the list. The first half of the year confirms this upward trend of forest fires. In February alone, there were six times as many fires compared to the same period over the previous four years. In March, there were three times as many fires. The only exception to the rule was in April when the number of fires was slightly below average.

The severe drought has exacerbated the situation, rendering the land parched and even more prone to violent fires. Authorities are warning that this year’s forest fire season could well last until October. Although recent, slightly cooler weather helped bombeiros to quell fires raging in the centre of the country, the lull in the heat is not expected to last. Higher temperatures are predicted for next week, leading authorities to fear a repeat of the 2003 summer wildfires, which left 20 people dead and more than 400,000 hectares of land destroyed.

EU enlargement bound to cause temporary crisis

THE ENLARGEMENT of the European Union has long-term benefits that far outweigh the current short-term teething problems reflected in recent referendums in France and Holland, says António Vitorino, a member of the Socialist Party (PS), former Minister of Defence and EU Commissioner for Justice and Home Affairs.

Addressing a group of Portuguese, German and Austrian businessmen at the Hotel Sheraton in Lisbon last week, the international affairs expert believed that, although the enlargement was never going to be popular, it would eventually bring enormous economic, political and social advantages, reports The Resident’s journalist, Chris Graeme.

Vitorino said that the new, fledgeling Eastern European democracies had reformed their judiciaries and created genuine democratic institutions, a reality that was unthinkable in the 80s. With a more united Europe, peace and stability are far more guaranteed, thus avoiding the kind of social, economic and political crises that had dogged Europe from medieval times to the end of World War II.

Giving the example of the Balkan crisis, when the former Yugoslavia disintegrated following the death of Marshall Tito, Vitorino demonstrated, through the Bosnian and Kosovo conflicts, the horrors that a lack of political unity and economic crisis could unleash in the heart of the continent.

Vitorino commented: "Within Europe, we are faced with a loss of the competitive edge, a lowering in educational standards and excellence, and less available investment in the public sectors, leading to uncertainty over the future of our postwar welfare systems."

In both Europe and the US, there are fewer patents being registered in recent years, reflecting a crisis in innovation and technological development. "It is clear that the EU is not producing the results that we had grown accustomed to in the past," he said.

Another issue was that there was not just one political, social and economic model in Europe, but various models. This was particularly stark in the Social Security models and values in the different European countries, leading to a great margin of variation.

"The Social Security system needs revising and the technological agenda set out in Lisbon in 2000 created a base for reforms, modernisation and increased innovative competitiveness that must go ahead," he warned.

At the centre of this was European political and financial cohesion, competitiveness, training, improved education, technological innovation, and the creation of new centres of excellence. This was equally true of the financial and public accounting sectors as it was on the social, education and welfare fronts. "The EU budgetary and financial systems must be fully integrated," he argued adding that the UK’s presidency of the EU should work hard to reach financial and trading agreements.

Turning to Portugal, he said it was vital for the government to step up and push forward economic, judicial and social reform to create a clear path for modernity. He said the 2000 Lisbon Accords, in as far as they impacted on Portugal, depended on a fast pace of national reforms to reach international EU objectives. "Large public works, like the airport at Ota and the TGV, will not sort out Portugal’s fundamental problems or fill its coffers in the long term – only institutional reform and modernisation will do that," he said.

He criticised a lack of education and clear communication from leaders in what the EU enlargement was all about, although he said that the public in France has had all the facts, figures and information made available.

"The EU future for now lies in strong consensual leadership and example set by the Franco-German-Anglo axis," he stressed. "We need to have a tripartite solution, although co-operation from these three countries will not be sufficient alone. The current crisis has, in part, been provoked by the lack of agreement between the three on economic reform," he said.

Finally, on the issue of terrorism, he said it was a reality that we had to live with for the foreseeable future, but terrorists would not be allowed to alter our democratic way of life, while adding that public co-operation and vigilance with the authorities was vital.

Accommodation