Dredging at critical points in the Ria Formosa, namely in Barrinha (Faro), at Barra da Armona or Lavajo (Olhão) and other secondary bars and streams, will be carried out until the end of 2015, within the scope of the Polis Ria Formosa Programme.
The guarantee was given by the president of Sociedade Polis Ria Formosa Sebastião Teixeira, who assures that the procedures are very advanced and that there will still be time to clean up these areas, an old desire of those dedicated to fishing and shellfishing, taking advantage of the funds from the Community Support Framework 2007/2013.
In this case, assured Sebastião Teixeira, the situation is quite different from that of the new bridge and accesses to Praia de Faro, a work that will not start anytime soon, due to «a physical, temporal problem», which makes it «impossible» to carry out the work until the end of next year, the deadline for taking advantage of the previous “cake” from Community Funds.
"The large works, with very long execution deadlines, have to wait for the next Community Framework, whose rules we still don't know," he said.
In the case of digging up the Ria Formosa, «these are projects that take two or three months», which allows us to foresee that there will be time to apply them in the field. “Fortunately, the dredging tender processes are very advanced. And these are 3-5 month operations. Therefore, it is possible and we really want to do them, by December 2015», he assured.
The dredging of the secondary bars, for reasons of safety and health in the Ria Formosa, but also of some secondary streams in this lagoon area, are an old claim of fishermen and shellfish collectors in this part of the Algarve, who use them on a daily basis.
A request that was reiterated, with more vehemence, following an accident in Barra do Lavajo, in October, which caused the death of a fisherman. According to the organization of shipowners OlhãoPesca, the high siltation of that bar, combined with bad weather, will have been the probable causes of the accident.
For these operations, "roughly five million euros" are reserved. The first works on the land should start as early as January, with the removal of silt at Barra de Faro (Culatra/Barreta) and the main access channels to the Algarve capital and Olhão. "The tender is in its final stage, then a visa from the Court of Auditors is required to start the work," he revealed.
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