LISBON, May 23 (Xinhua) -- Portugal's minister of planning and infrastructure, Pedro Marques, hailed measures being put in place on Wednesday to combat wildfires ahead of the summer season.
The hot summer months are especially vulnerable to the spread of wildfires.
"The country is making an enormous effort in terms of prevention and in preparing fire-fighting mechanisms," said Marques.
The minister made his comments to local journalists while visiting fire-affected areas in the east of Portugal. He visited land being cleared of combustible scrub to create a safety belt around Seia, a town 300 km northeast of Lisbon, and was shown building work underway on properties damaged in last year's fires in the village of Travancinha.
More than 100 people died and over 400,000 hectares of land were destroyed by wildfires in Portugal in 2017.
"There will inevitably be fires," Marques warned, but he said that "by the time the summer comes we will be as well prepared as possible."
Meanwhile, the European Commission proposed a sum of 150 million euros (175 million U.S dollars) be included in the 2019 European Union (EU) budget as a catastrophe fund.
The fund, to be named "rescEU", will be available to member states that have suffered earthquakes, forest fires, and other catastrophes.