The «suspension of work in the Baixo Alentejo and Algarve Litoral sub-concessions» is one of the reasons invoked by Tecnovia to put in "lay-off" (temporary suspension of employment contracts) «about 330 workers», announced this Monday in the evening, in a statement, the management of the construction company.
“Due to reasons and circumstances of an economic, market and structural nature, Tecnovia was forced to start, on the present date, a “lay-off” process involving around 330 workers”, stated Tecnovia.
«The current mismatch between the works in the portfolio and the company's installed capacity, resulting essentially from the sharp decrease in public investment, the continued reduction in the number of open and awarded public tenders and the suspension of work in the Baixo Alentejo and Algarve Litoral sub-concessions » are the reasons invoked by the company for its decision.
Taking these reasons into account, Tecnovia considers the decision to “reduce or suspend the provision of work by the aforementioned universe of workers” as “unadjournable”, which, even so, is presented as a temporary measure. The company foresees the «strengthening of the order book, especially in the international market».
In the south of the country, this decision calls into question the continuation and completion of two important works: the Algarve Litoral concession, which involved the redevelopment of the EN125, from Vila do Bispo to Vila Real de Santo António, and the «Estradas da Planície» concession », in Alentejo.
In this last sub-concession, which involves the construction of IP8/A26, connecting Beja to Sines and Lisbon, work was suspended yesterday. Jorge Pulido Valente, mayor of Beja, in statements to Antena1 radio, said that the construction of these accessibility “is structuring the development of the region and that is why this project was launched”.
The Alentejo mayor added that he understands "that there may be a need to renegotiate the concession, but never abandoning the construction of an infrastructure of this importance, which, moreover, is already more than halfway through its construction."
For his part, Desidério Silva, mayor of Albufeira, said that “a region like the Algarve has great difficulty in surviving without these works completed. What is at stake is the region as an area of residence, but mainly as a tourist destination”.
In the case of the Algarve Litoral sub-concession, the works have actually been stopped since March 22, such as the Sul Informação reported then in first hand.
At that time, 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 . All this stopped, causing serious problems for road traffic in the region.
In response to a request for clarification from the Sul Informação, the Rotas do Algarve Litoral concessionaire, of the Rotas Regionales Road Group, said, on March 23, that the «Algarve sub-concessionaire is trying to overcome the problems raised by the financing banks, related to the successive drops in the ratings of the banks».
In June, himself Ministry of Economy, in answer to a question from the Algarve communist deputy Paulo Sá, said that, “according to information from EP,SA, the completion of the requalification works on the EN 125 and the S. Brás de Alportel link is scheduled for April 2013, having been suspended for related issues with the financing of the sub-concessionaire, being resumed as soon as these difficulties are overcome”.
However, it is known that, in addition to the financial difficulties of the groups responsible for the two sub-concessions, of which Tecnovia is only one of the member companies, the negotiations of contracts with Estradas de Portugal also contributed to the problems.
Estradas de Portugal was mandated by the Government to renegotiate seven road sub-concessions (two of which are concluded) in order to achieve nominal savings of over two billion euros over the next 30 years, the term of the agreements signed with the concessionaires.
Speaking to Antena 1, Albano Ribeiro, from the Civil Construction Workers Union, said that an urgent meeting had already been requested from the Prime Minister, in order to present proposals and demand solutions to stop the crisis in the sector.
About road concessions:
The Baixo Alentejo road concession is awarded to ROADS OF THE PLAIN, a company that incorporates the project finance, construction and operation of infrastructure competences of a qualified group of companies.
ROADS OF PLANÍCIE have EDIFER, IRIDIUM, DRAGADOS, TECNOVIA and CONDURIL as shareholders.
The Algarve road concession is awarded to ROUTES OF THE COASTAL ALGARVE, a company that incorporates the project finance, construction and operation of infrastructure competences of a qualified group of companies.
The ALGARVE LITORAL ROUTES have EDIFER, TECNOVIA, CONDURIL, DRAGADOS and IRIDIUM as shareholders.
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