Nearly four million pounds of emergency cash aid has been made available

The Balearic government yesterday announced that it is to make nearly three million pounds of emergency funding available for those hardest hit by the past six days of violent storms. Government spokesperson, Antoni Garcías, said yesterday that Balearic President Francesc Antich has asked for an urgent meeting with the Prime Minister, Jose Maria Aznar, in Madrid to discuss the widespread damage suffered by the Balearics since last Friday, when the first of the two storms hit the region. The local government yesterday approved an emergency fighting fund of 7'900 million pesetas to cover the costs of “urgent” repairs. The figure is the maximum the Balearic government can approve, but the total costs of the damages is expected to reach the region of ten million pounds, so central government is going to have to release emergency funds to help the Balearics recover from some of the worst storms to have hit the region in the past 50 years. Garcias admitted yesterday that it is going to take time for the total cost of the damage to be evaluated, but he said that it should easily pass the 25'000 million peseta mark. One of the ways in which the local authorities hope to assess the extent of the damage as quickly as possible is via the damage registration lists which local town halls made available yesterday. Victims have until December 20 to apply for compensation.