The EN125 requalification works will stop this Friday, due to the concessionaire's financial difficulties, according to the Sul Informação from various sources.
The works, which were currently underway with the construction of the Variant of Faro, the Lagos bypass, the Praia da Luz junction and the redevelopment of the section between Lagos and Vila do Bispo, with the construction of several roundabouts, as well as the S. Lourenço/Troto bypass and the EN395 bypass between Guia and Albufeira , have been advancing at a very slow pace for the past few weeks, but now it looks like they are going to stop.
Macário Correia, president of the Chamber of Faro, contacted by Sul Informação, said that he "officially" has "no knowledge of this stop", but stressed that "it is not surprising that this could happen, even as a way of negotiating pressure from the consortium" concessionaire for the intervention along the 273 kilometers of the EN125.
In any case, underlined the president of the Junta Metropolitana do Algarve (Amal), “this is not officially assumed by the consortium”.
Macário Correia, who was traveling to Denmark for a European meeting, said that he had already spoken with "the administration of Tecnovia", the company that leads the consortium, which will not have officially assumed the halt of work.
However, to what the Sul Informação he found out from several subcontractors involved in the works, the orders are even to stop, as of this Friday, the 23rd, with the removal of machines and men.
Our newspaper found, for example, that in the area near the Node do Rio Seco of the Variante de Faro, where a roman cemetery which was now being excavated so that the road works could advance, and despite the fact that the intervention was just over a week away, the archaeologists were now busy sealing with geotextile some graves that had not been dug, after they have been ordered to stop.
At the origin of this stoppage of the works, which were already over a year late, there is no lack of payment on the part of Estradas de Portugal, since the payments to the consortium responsible for the concession of the Algarve Litoral will only start to be made when the works are completed. completed.
The problem is that the consortium has been facing problems from a financial point of view. The consortium is formed by four companies – Edifer, Iridium (Spanish group ACS), Tecnovia and Conduril. Edifer went bankrupt and the others have been experiencing difficulties in obtaining funding from the banks. Hence, the pace of work is being much slower than initially expected.
Macário Correia, in his statements to the Sul Informação, even admitted that it is a “work insecure from a financial point of view”. "There is no assumed stop, but there may be a momentary suspension of work", said the leader of the Algarve mayors.
A stop that may have at its origin not only the alleged financial difficulties of the concessionary consortium, but also its desire to force the Government and Estradas de Portugal to review a contract that was signed under the aegis of José Sócrates, when the conditions of the market and access to banking were very different from the current ones.
Júlio Barroso, mayor of Lagos, one of the municipalities that could be most affected by the stoppage, albeit temporary, of the works on the EN125, assured the Sul Informação«not to admit the possibility of the work stopping forever».
The socialist mayor recalled that “one of the reasons for previous Governments to consider the introduction of tolls on Via do Infante was to carry out works on the EN125. The current Government advanced to tolls without the works having been completed. If there is now a stop in the works, it is the end of the road, it is the total discrediting of the State and the central administration».
Therefore, Júlio Barroso, who guaranteed that he was unaware of any intention to stop the works, hopes that this situation, if it materializes, will be “just an accident on the way”, an “impasse” that will be quickly overcome.
“I cannot, in any way, admit that it is to suspend the works without an end in sight”, stressed the mayor of Lagos.
A very troubled process
The tender for the requalification of the EN125 was launched on March 16, 2008 and the contract signed on April 21, 2009, foreseeing an investment of close to 400 million euros.
The concession was awarded, after a tender, to the Rotas do Algarve Litoral consortium, which aims to ensure the reconstruction, maintenance and conservation of the EN125, along its entire length, from Sagres to Vila Real de Santo António, covering a total of 273 kilometres.
The requalification of the EN125 was announced in the Algarve on March 16, 2008 by then Prime Minister José Sócrates, who on that date indicated the end of 2010 as the deadline for completion of the works.
But the process has suffered successive delays. The completion of the works is now scheduled for April 2012, then for the second half of 2013, three years later than initially planned.
But the constant delays further challenge this deadline, while it is admitted that some of the planned works may not even advance. In this case the variants of Odiáxere (Lagos) and Olhão are included.
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