The land located in the western part of the Ribeirinho de Faro, whose alleged owner destroyed a bridge and part of the road, making secondary access to this leisure area unfeasible, is part of the Public Water Domain, until proven otherwise.
Second assured the Sul Informação the person in charge of the Administration of the Hydrographic Region of the Algarve, Sebastião Teixeira, at this time, and in light of the Law on the Ownership of Water Resources, approved in 2005, that area of the Ribeirinho de Faro it is officially considered to be state property.
In order for the land to be sold to the Council, by the family claiming to own the space, it is necessary to prove, first, “that land was already private property in 1864”. Initially, a deadline was given until July 2014, but was later extended by opening a 'continuous period' to take the test.
In other words, the family that owned these lands, before the publication of the law, will now have to proceed with the request for recognition of ownership of the property, presenting documentary evidence. Sebastião Teixeira says he doesn't know if the process has already been set in motion, but guarantees that there is still no final decision.
According to Sebastião Teixeira, the Portuguese Environment Agency, which oversees the ARH and the areas of Public Water Domain, will not force the owner to provide proof of ownership of the land, since, by default, the law grants it to the State, but stresses that before any transaction, "it will have to happen".
This is the perspective of the Chamber of Faro, who, in the lively Municipal Assembly (AM) last Monday, conveyed to Valter Alfaiate, representative of the family who may or may not be the legitimate owner of the land, that the business will not be able to move forward until this issue is clarified.
“There is a new fact here. ARH came to say that it is in the Public Water Domain. If it is the State, this transaction does not make sense, if not, we have to continue the negotiation to complete it. But it is first necessary to know if that is the Public Water Domain. ARH says yes, but, of course, the alleged owners will have their say», summarized the mayor of Faro Rogério Bacalhau, in statements to our newspaper.
Rogério Bacalhau: "The Chamber cannot intervene in that space, whether it is a Public Water Domain, or whether it is private, on its own initiative"
A position that was not well received by Valter Alfaiate, who claimed, in the exhibition he made at AM de Faro, having been «tricked» and presented two land valuations in the amount of 450 thousand euros. This is the amount that the owners are asking for for the land and that was approved to spend on this business, in Reunion de Câmara e AM, in 2011, at a time when the president of the municipality was Macário Correia. The problem is that, now, the autarchy only admits to spend less than half of that amount on the operation.
At the time, the Chamber of Faro pledged to pay 450 thousand euros for the land, "based on the owner's assessment", a value below "the 650 thousand euros" initially requested. But, already after the election of Rogério Bacalhau, new evaluations of the land were requested, which indicated that it was worth 190 euros. The difference in values will have linked 'to the method used for the valuation'.
This is the amount that the municipality is willing to pay, even because, it claims, it will not obtain a visa from the Court of Auditors (TC) to proceed with the business, in the original mold, since any transaction above 350 thousand euros is scrutinized by that entity. And the court only allows you to pay for a piece of land for which it was appraised.
"This transaction was always conditioned by three situations: there being appropriate, in budgetary terms, the commitment - which has already been made, with the draft deed already approved by the bodies - and the approval of the Court of Auditors", revealed the mayor from Farense.
When presenting the documents necessary to instruct the TC's visa, the municipality asked for an assessment, which "gave a value lower than what had been agreed".
“From there, there were contacts with the owners, the situation was exposed and there were meetings with one of the owners and his lawyer. We were trying to overcome this issue and the possibility was even launched of forming a team of three experts to carry out a new assessment», revealed the mayor, something that ended up never happening.
While waiting for the situation to be unblocked, there should be no intervention to restore the bridge and the path that Valter Alfaiate destroyed at the western entrance to Ribeirinho de Faro.
«The City Council is analyzing the situation of the destruction of the road, to find out if the owner could do what he did there. This is a side process. But the Chamber cannot intervene in that space, whether it is a Public Water Domain, or whether it is private, on its own initiative», he said. The solution is "to speed up all these processes and resolve the situation as quickly as possible", but always "within the law".
Even because there are those who have been caught up in this “war” between the owners and the Chamber, without having anything to do with the matter. In addition to the users of the space, the “Equinostrum” equestrian center, which was served by the path that was destroyed, was also injured. In addition to not having access, by car, to its main entrance, the center saw a water pipeline destroyed in that location, which left it “five days without water”, according to the management of the “Equinostrum”.
The situation was, however, resolved, with an improvised solution, but the owners of the equestrian center fear that, during the rainy season, the new entrance could be rendered useless.
Photos: Luís Passos and Equinostrum
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