Macário Correia criticized this friday the measures imposed by the Government on the municipalities, considering that, in some cases, they will bring "new problems and not the desired solutions to previously existing problems", in a speech on the Municipality Day of Faro where the crisis and lack of liquidity were the central theme.
Despite leading a coalition executive that integrates the two parties currently in government, PSD and CDS/PP, Macário Correia did not fail to point out what he considers wrong government policies in relation to local power.
For the Algarvian mayor, an "analytical error" has led the Government to consider that "municipalities are a problem for public finances", which has generated policies that can further aggravate the situation of financial strangulation experienced by the Municipal Councils.
Also the announced reforms in the local administration are criticized by the Farense mayor. «To end up with eito parishes creates more inconveniences than advantages that cannot be glimpsed. And for that reason, the Municipal Assembly of Faro deliberated the approval of an opinion against the extinction of the parishes in the county», he said, in his speech of September 7, a municipal holiday.
«Every month we are subject to the inspection control of the General Finance Inspectorate, the General Inspectorate of Local Administration, the Court of Auditors, while the State's business sector has not been the target of similar measures so far. They oversee accounts, contracts, decisions. We no longer have the same responsibility for management and autonomy», he criticized.
Another point on which Macário Correia wants to see changes is in the way in which municipal theaters are viewed, whose "uniqueties" are not recognized by the new law on municipal companies. The support of Teatro das Figuras, the «main hall of the region», is also referred to as one of the «problems of the Municipality in its basic structure», to which we must add «the 10 million unpaid in the Municipal Market, plus 7 million in the Stadium Algarve and many others to pay for Loulé».
Inheritance of the past was remembered again
Macário Correia remembered again «the excess of inherited expenditure" that will take "a generation's time to pay", a theme almost always present in the interventions of the President of the Chamber of Faro since he took office. “There are 500 families living without basic conditions. There is a lot of social housing and money to do this. We have to pay more than $5 million a year in amortizations, interest and debit notes. If it weren't for that, we would be making permanent investments with this amount», assured the mayor.
A problem that, he assured, the current executive has been alleviating, "which requires unthinkable sacrifices, through containment measures grounded in great rigor in the management of available resources and in the careful definition of priorities."
"In less than three years, we have reduced ongoing costs by 2,3 million euros a year and we now work with 220 fewer employees than at the end of 2009, which represents 20 percent less," he said.
Growth passes through private and government investment
With the Chamber of Faro going through deep financial difficulties, investments in the municipality will have to be leveraged by the private sector. Although there are investments already approved by the Government, financed by national and European funds, there is little public work on the horizon and some of the ones that have already started are at a standstill.
«The North Bypass was delayed and work is awaited, in a reduced version. The Ribeirinho Park, whose project has already been launched with our cooperation, as well as dredging in the estuary, whose works will start at the end of this year», summarized the mayor.
The solution thus passes through the entrepreneurs. Macário Correia remembered the more than ten million invested in the municipality by the private sector, which allowed the creation of 200 jobs, and ensured that this model will have to continue.
The "narrow and difficult" management options that Faro it has at its disposal, according to Macário Correia «reducing operating expenses, trying to find out where it can save even more, while trying to sell some assets and get private agents to bet on some investment that generates jobs».
Urban regeneration is the executive's bet
With no money to launch new works, the executive from Faro guarantees that he has not forgotten what has already been done in the municipality and which characterizes it.
«The measures leading to the urban regeneration of the historic center are proceeding at a good pace, especially in Vila-Adentro, in Bairro Ribeirinho and soon in Mouraria as well. Through small incentives and support, we strive for our architectural heritage to remain standing and to be recovered», assured Macário Correia, in his speech.
"We continue to elaborate several urban plans, of which we highlight Gambelas and Areal Gordo, as they generate opportunities to establish companies with all the resulting advantages", he added.
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