“With the decision to suppress part of the EN125 variants, the Government is making the creation of a real alternative to Via do Infante unfeasible, thus continuing to condition the region's economic development”, considered PS deputy Miguel Freitas, referring to the suppression of the Odiáxere, Olhão, Luz de Tavira and SB de Alportel bypasses resulting from the reduction of the Algarve Litoral sub-concession.
For Miguel Freitas, who together with deputy João Soares presented today to the Minister of Economy and Employment a set of questions about the agreement between the State and Rotas do Algarve Litoral, this decision represents, in political terms, “a reversal of strategy ” with disastrous consequences for the region.
“The amputation of part of the variants means keeping the EN125 as an avenue that crosses a number of towns on the Algarve coast, taking away the dimension of a real alternative to Via do Infante, an objective pursued by all this investment, as a result of the introduction of tolls”, emphasizes Miguel Freitas.
The socialist parliamentarian questioned the Government about the importance he attaches to the work on the EN125 and to the construction of the variants removed under the agreement with the company Rotas do Algarve Litoral.
"The direct reason for the suppression of those variants seems to have been the fact that they have not started yet, with a reservation on whether the Government considers this work a priority", criticize the deputies, who also questioned Álvaro Santos Pereira about the criteria for the said suppression , as well as the size of the annualized financial impact of the State's payment savings in the investment of those four variants until 2015 and in the remaining years of the contract.
Expressing their concern regarding the consequences inherent to the renegotiation of the Algarve Litoral road concession contract, Miguel Freitas and João Soares asked the Government to report on the new schedule of works on the EN 125, including the variants in progress.
In the presentation to the Government, the two deputies elected by the circle of Faro they also require clarification as to the estimated amount that will be borne by the State in conservation and maintenance works on the aforementioned 93 km of road, as well as the amount of investment programmed in these roads under the responsibility of EP, during the period that was planned to be carried out by Routes of the Algarve Coast.
Questioning the minister about the amount of indemnities that the reduction of the contract entails for the contracting consortium, the deputies also want to know if the Government knows how to quantify the impact on employment resulting from this correction of the trajectory in the work and the extra cost in expenditure on unemployment benefits which will be implied over the next two years.
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