The Government hopes that the works on the EN125 can resume "by the end of the year or early 2017", but everything depends on the renegotiation of the contract with the concessionaire Rotas do Algarve Litoral, which has yet to be concluded, is in good port. Tuesday the Minister of Infrastructure Pedro Marques, in Faro.
“We are currently concluding negotiations with the concessionaire. I want to close them by the end of the year, so that the works can be restarted, particularly in the concession area», explained the Minister of Infrastructure, who came to the Algarve to meet with mayors and businessmen, to make known the possibilities of European funding available to the region.
"When the negotiation is concluded and when the necessary licenses are obtained, the rest of the works that are the responsibility of the concessionaire will move forward and the State will be able to pay what is due in this matter", added the member of the Government, who assured that "there are financing conditions".
Bearing in mind that between Vila do Bispo and Olhão Poente, the concession area for Rotas do Algarve Litoral, the works that still need to be done «are quite limited», Pedro Marques believes «that they will, in essence, be completed by the summer».
The works that left the scope of this concession, the requalification of the EN125 between Olhão Nascente and Vila Real de Santo António, are also dependent on the conclusion of these negotiations. From the moment this happens, «the interventions will advance, depending on the budget availability of Infraestruturas de Portugal».
«The negotiation with the concessionaire was not concluded, contrary to what we were being told. There were permits to obtain and dossiers to close. Even so, it was possible to continue carrying out a series of works until the summer. We also agreed to the request of the mayors, so that we stop the works before the beginning of July so as not to harm the main tourist flows and the summer period, which we believe ran a lot», added Pedro Marques.
It is certain that some works stopped halfway through and did not resume after the summer period. And, taking into account the statements made by the member of Government, they will have to wait. "We will, with a bit of patience, conclude all negotiations and all works will resume at the end of this period, because there is no lack of financial capacity on the part of the State to pay the concessionaire", assured Pedro Marques.
The State will have no shortage of money to pay, but everything indicates that, at least in some cases, the executors of the work will not be able to collect it. This is because the Court of Auditors still lacks the approval of the new contract that leaves the negotiation dialogue between the Government and the concessionaire, which prevents payment for the work.
A situation that was explained to journalists by Jorge Botelho, president of AMAL -Comunidade Intermunicipal do Algarve. “The contracts exist, they are provided for in the law and it is possible to proceed with the works while waiting for the approval of the Court of Auditors. The only issue is that it does not generate financial effects, which prevents payments. That was the problem, as far as I know, with some companies. I know of at least one case that at one point said he couldn't go any further," he said.
"We already knew that negotiations were underway and the companies moved forward with the works in the expectation that this process would be resolved quickly", which ended up not happening, he added.
On the part of the mayors, the hope is that «this bureaucratic plot will be resolved as quickly as possible, because each day of delay brings enormous damage to the Algarve». «At the end of the summer, what is fundamental is that, in the concessionaire's part, the works can restart and that the interventions that are already in the field are urgently concluded», said Jorge Botelho.
Also very urgent is the progress of works «in the Infrastructures of Portugal, whose situation is very worrying and we are not seeing the light for the requalification to take place». “This means that the road is getting worse and worse, more and more disqualified”, illustrated the AMAL president.
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