The Polis Ria Formosa Society already has a date set for its extinction and is being managed by a liquidation committee. But, before disappearing, it will demolish more houses in the nuclei of the Faroof the Hangares of Ilha da Culatra and launch some great works in Faro, Olhão and Tavira.
This entity will be emptied of powers at the end of 2018, when it will transfer all ongoing interventions to other entities.
And, despite the decision to start the process of extinction of this entity having been taken in the summer, by the Portuguese State, the majority shareholder of the Company, it still shows that it has breath – to the liking of some and the displeasure of others.
On the side of the discontented are the owners of 22 houses, 12 located in the Farol and ten in the Hangares, which received notifications from the Polis for the administrative takeover of their houses, on the 27th of February. This will be a second phase of the demolition process on Ilha da Culatra, after at first they had gone down 57 houses.
«The demolitions, at this moment, are senseless and inopportune», defended Feliciano Júlio, president of the Associação da Ilha do FaroXNUMX of Santa Maria, which accuses the Ministry of the Environment of having ordered the Polis to carry out more demolitions "on the same day the Society went into liquidation."
The dwellings in question had already been referenced, but were saved from administrative possession, about a year ago, by court proceedings, advanced by their owners. Now, Polis is back in charge, even though, assuring Feliciano Júlio, some of the houses "still have precautionary measures with suspensive effect" in progress.
Also at issue will be 'first-rate homes and fishermen's houses'. “There has been a lack of dialogue on the part of the ministry in the last 14 months. They never wanted to talk to us. Now, I predict a very bad outcome», warned the president of the Associação da Ilha do Farol of Santa Maria.
The islanders promise to fight, but these turn out to be demolitions that were long overdue, although they have been delayed by lawsuits.
António Pina, mayor of Olhão, a municipality that even presented an injunction against demolitions in Culatra – despite this barrier island being the territory of Faro -, is resigned to this outcome. "Although I defend another solution, what is happening now was what was already agreed with the Ministry of Environment", he considered.
At this time, the mayor from Olhão is more concerned with the progress of other interventions by the Polis, more precisely the works on the waterfront in the city of Olhão.
Among the projects that Polis will still finance and launch, the one that is in the most advanced stage is the redevelopment of Avenida 5 de Outubro, in Olhão. Here, the public tender has already been concluded and the award stage is in progress, with the process pending approval by the Court of Auditors.
The mayor of Olhão António Pina told the Sul Informação that the work will start "very soon" and will be completed before the end of the summer.
«My expectation is that the work will start in February. But we will have to phase it. The first part would be done by the end of May and the works would restart after October, because we cannot run the risk of continuing into the summer», he said.
This work it was even linked to the requalification of the Pescador Olhanense and Patrão Joaquim Lopes gardens, next to the Olhão Markets, but the interventions ended up being separated. «The one in the gardens is the only one missing. We are still to see how we will do the division of the necessary amount. There will be more news in March», said António Pina, guaranteeing that the realization of this work is not in question and that it will be carried out, in part, with funds from Polis.
«The dredging contest has also been launched. Meanwhile, the intervention at Praia dos Cavacos has also been completed,” said António Pina.
Em Faro, the tender for the new access bridge to Praia de Faro, a work that was put aside, but ended up returning to the Society's plans, after negotiations with the City Council.
«The funding for the work was approved by the Court of Auditors, the tender is launched and now the result is awaited before the work can begin. From what was planned, within the scope of the Polis, everything is fulfilled, although there had to be an extra financial effort on our part [for the bridge]. Polis may close”, summarized Rogério Bacalhau, president of the Chamber of Faro, in statements to the Sul Informação.
In Tavira, where Polis has already renovated the Quatro Águas area, the Cabanas waterfront and the river front between Pedras d'el Rei and Santa Luzia, The construction of a new pier on Ilha de Tavira is now open for tender.
«This contest has already been launched a second time. The first was deserted, the specifications were restructured and launched again», revealed Jorge Botelho, mayor of Tavira.
Loulé is also looking to move forward with a work under this program, but the process is still at a preliminary stage and requires negotiation between both parties.
Apart from the renovation work on Avenida 5 de Outubro in Olhão, which should be completed before the end of 2018, all other major interventions have an execution period that goes beyond the lifetime of the Polis Ria Formosa Society.
The solution found by the shareholders, in this case by the Portuguese State, which holds the majority of the capital of this company, which also includes the Chambers of Loulé, Faro, Olhão and Tavira, was to allow the transfer of the work and the respective financing, already guaranteed, to other public entities.
In Tavira, the construction of the pier on the island will be entrusted to Docapesca. In Faro and Olhão, the works of the bridge to the beach and the requalification of the gardens are under the responsibility of the respective Town Halls.
In other words, by the end of 2018, Polis, even though it is in the liquidation phase, will still have a lot of work to do and decisions to make.
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