The Court of Auditors' refusal to give the approval of the contract that would make it possible to pass the EN125 between Olhão and Vila Real de Santo António for the tutelage of Infraestruturas de Portugal and the consequent progress of the works «this is bad news for the Algarve», he considered to the Sul Informação Jorge Botelho, president of AMAL – Algarve Intermunicipal Community.
The president of the Chamber of Tavira, one of the counties through which the section of the EN125 passes, who has been waiting for years for this visa to be issued in order to be requalified, does not hide that this TC decision «it's a setback» that will lead to «months wasted».
«Infraestruturas de Portugal will appeal and the decision should be made public in September. Regardless of what happens, what we demand is the repair of the road and as soon as possible».
“There is a contract in place. The Government will have to resolve the situation quickly. I keep the expectation that the works can start in 2019. And I'm talking about the works themselves, not the launch of the competitions», he told the Sul Informação Jorge Botelho.
The Tavirense mayor recalls that the Government "has legal mechanisms at its disposal" and hopes that these are used. “They can notify the concessionaire to carry out the works, which is what we hope will happen [if the TC does not reverse its decision]. If the concessionaire is unable or unwilling to advance, at the limit, it will be possible to ask for the redemption of the concession», he believes.
This is because what was failed by the TC was the renegotiation made in 2015 by the previous Government, led by Pedro Passos Coelho. "What the court failed, in addition to the transfer of guardianship of the section to Sotavento of the EN125 to the IP, was the savings model of the previous Government, namely the cuts that were foreseen", assured the Algarvian mayor.
In other words, in practice, the original contract, which obtained a favorable approval from the court in 2009, is still in force, in which the concessionaire Rotas do Algarve Litoral undertakes to requalify this national road in its entirety.
«What interests us is to see the end of this, which can only involve the requalification of the EN125 between Olhão and VRSA and as quickly as possible», concluded Jorge Botelho.
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