There is no date for the start of the requalification of the EN125 between Vila Real de Santo António (VRSA) and Olhão and the Government will still be unable to advance an estimate for the start of works until it has green light of the Court of Auditors. The guarantee was given this Friday, in Faro, by Minister Pedro Marques, that not even a year ago was in the region to present the schedule for the requalification of this road, in Sotavento, which ended up not being fulfilled.
The problem that impedes the progress of this work is not new: the Court of Auditors has yet to receive approval for the renegotiation of the Rotas do Algarve Litoral concession, carried out by the previous Government, which led to part of the works – those between Olhão and VRSA – removed from this Public Private Partnership.
“We are committed to completing the negotiation. There is no visa from the Court of Auditors, this legal process is not closed. This is not a decision by a member of the Government. It is not possible to proceed with the work until these legal conditions are taken care of», the minister of Planning and Infrastructure said today, during his visit to Faro.
Pedro Marques stressed that the TC "is not a government entity", so the Government "cannot define when the legal conditions are created". What he assures is that the Government "is making every effort" to resolve this dossier.
The same argument had already been used by Pedro Marques in 2016, when the renegotiation of the Rotas do Algarve Litoral concession was concluded. And, although nothing has changed since then, this has not stopped the same member of the Government from coming to the Algarve, a year ago, in January 2017, announce a schedule for the works – which should, according to what was guaranteed at the time, start at the end of last year and start at cruising speed in 2018.
As for the section between Lagos and Faro, whose requalification was granted to Rotas do Algarve Litoral, «the works are definitively finished this week», guaranteed the minister today. “There were 90 million euros in works, of which 96% were already invested during this Government”, he stressed.
“If the other works [from Olhão to VRSA] had remained within the concession, they would already be being carried out or even concluded”, assured Pedro Marques.
And if, with regard to the EN125, the Minister of Planning and Infrastructure does not commit to dates, with regard to the electrification of the railway, the Government member says he wants to launch the work still in 2018.
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