The Parliamentary Group of the PCP will proceed with a legislative initiative in the Assembly of the Republic that guarantees, "in the short term, the reduction of costs" for shellfish producers in the Ria Formosa and other lagoon and coastal areas of the country.
The proposal, to be presented "soon", aims to "respond to the dramatic situation" experienced by Portuguese nurseries and shellfish collectors, due to the declassification of bivalve production areas, recently announced by the Government and linked to the loss of water quality.
This was one of the conclusions of the PCP Parliamentary Journeys, which took place yesterday, Monday, and today, at the Municipal Museum of Faro. Subjects of a more regional nature ended up also being on the agenda, in the balance of this meeting, held in the early afternoon, similarly to what happened with the imminent privatization of CTT and the «dismantling» of the Viana do Castelo shipyards.
Problems in the region with which the PCP deputies dealt closely. This Monday, the communist parliamentarians received a delegation and shellfish gatherers and nurserymen from the Ria Formosa, there were areas that lost the classification A and became B and others that went down from B to C.
In practice, and in the first case, "this means that mariscadores can no longer sell their product directly to the consumer and will have to send it to a debugger, with the costs that this entails", revealed on the sidelines of the session Paulo Sá, deputy of the PCP elected by the Algarve.
This is in the least bad scenario, since "most of the nurseries are now in an area classified as C, which forces producers to sell the product directly to the industry, at very low prices".
Paulo Sá reaffirmed the intention of the party he represents in Parliament to move forward with a legislative initiative, but he did not specify exactly what will be asked of the Government, namely if the PCP intends to ask for support for production, despite the communists knowing "exactly what they want" .
It only reinforced the objective of achieving, in the short term, lower production costs, which could become “unbearable for many shellfish collectors”.
“We are afraid that many of these professionals will stop producing, because they stop compensating. We are talking about professionals, but also their families. So this is an economic problem, but also a social problem», he considered.
This loss of water quality is linked, argue the communists, to the state's disinvestment. “This disqualification does not happen by chance. It is the result of the inaction of successive governments, either the PS or the PSD/CDS, which, over the years, have not taken the necessary measures and investments," he accused.
Hence, the same draft law contemplates medium and long-term measures, namely "the implementation of the necessary investments for the recovery and maintenance of the quality of estuarine-lagoon and coastal waters throughout the country".
In the case of the Algarve, more specifically the Ria Formosa, this involves the long-announced – and even longer requested by professionals in the sector – dredging of the Ria Formosa, which allows for greater water renewal, thus contributing to water quality.
The Polis Ria Formosa Society, created about five years ago, has a defined and shared dredging plan, but so far has not advanced into the land. This despite the fact that, recalled Paulo Sá, the former Minister of Environment Assunção Cristas «has guaranteed, very specifically about a year ago, in the discussion of the State Budget for 2013, that they would be concluded this year».
«The end of the year is here and the dredging has not been carried out», stressed Paulo Sá. “This year, we once again confronted the Government, in the discussion of the State Budget for 2014, and the response was, to say the least, evasive. In this way, we can say that the Government will not fulfill what was an essential commitment for this region», he said.
The communist deputy also highlighted the issue of discharges from the WWTP to the Ria Formosa, "as a result of the lack of investment, which has been postponing fundamental works" and which today contributes to the pollution of the Ria Formosa.
PCP insists again on the end of tolls and completion of works on the EN 125
The conclusions of the Congressional Meetings of the PCP also served to announce that the party will present, on Friday, "a draft resolution aiming at the abolition of tolls" in Via do Infante.
As revealed by the president of the communist bench in Parliament, João Oliveira, responsible for announcing the conclusions of the days, at a press conference, the PCP will take advantage of the discussion of a new petition presented by the Commission of Users of Via do Infante to put the issue to a vote, in plenary, as CUVI members anticipated. The Left Block will also present a proposal along the same lines.
In addition to the tolls on the A22, the Communists are also turning their attention to the works on the EN 125, which are currently stopped and will “re-present its draft resolution aiming at the resumption of the EN 125 rehabilitation works, whose level of congestion and degradation is increasing in the exactly insofar as the risks of the many thousands of motorists who pass through it every day increase».
Comments