This Wednesday, the Portimão City Council unanimously rejected the project presented by the company Butwell to the Ria de Alvor Tourist Development Center (NDT).
At a Chamber meeting, the executive and opposition were unanimous in voting in favor of the proposal of the jury for the public tender, which recommended the exclusion of Butwell Trading, Serviços e Investimentos SA, linked to businessman Aprígio Santos, and which was the only competitor.
According to the minutes of the jury, the Sul Informação had first-hand access, Butwell SA's proposal is considered "unacceptable" because "it does not present sufficient guarantees of credibility, clarity, seriousness or firmness, and is not adequately clarified".
The jury took into account, in its decision making, the court sentences, for a crime of damage against nature due to illegal actions committed by the competitor company and by the then chairman of its board of directors in Quinta da Rocha, the property in the heart of the Ria de Alvor that was the object of the project competing with NDT.
Although the jury did not know if the Judgment of July 10, 2015, considers that «taking into account the nature of the crime - Damage against Nature -, this conviction, per se, affects and calls into question the professional reputation of the competitor, as well as its credibility and suitability in the present case'.
The jury adds that, "as evidenced by the high number of participations in public consultation that refer to this fact, these convictions have already created a great social alarm that casts doubt on the suitability and honor of the competitor for the development of this project ».
But the members of the jury add that the project presented by Butwell suffered from "omissions" and "shortcomings", which had already raised doubts in the qualification phase of the proposal and which were later reinforced throughout the process, namely in the public consultation phase.
Among these "omissions" and "sufficients" detected in the characterization of the area, were those referring to "servitudes and restrictions of public utility and the cartography of the natural values present, namely the habitats of the RN2000'.
The jury of the public tender was chaired by the vice-president of the Municipality of Portimão Joaquim Castelão Rodrigues, and included two architects from the municipality, as well as technicians representing Turismo de Portugal, the Regional Coordination and Development Commission of the Algarve and the Conservation Institute of Nature and Forests.
After the Portimão Chamber has unanimously decided to reject the proposal and exclude the sole competitor, this decision will still have to be ratified by the Municipal Assembly. However, it is assumed that the project for the Ria de Alvor NDT, presented by the company linked to Aprígio Santos, will also be rejected there.
12 participations including a public petition, an unusual number in these processes.
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