The work on the River Beach of Odeleite was awarded and should "begin within a few days", believes the mayor of Castro Marim Francisco Amaral.
The contract for the award of the work, between the Castromarinense Chamber and the contractor Eduardo Pinto Viegas, was signed on the 7th of February and published on the Base platform on the 11th.
Now, "only a visa from the Court of Auditors" is needed for the work to begin on the ground and "floating swimming pools, changing rooms, toilets, a bar and a car park can be installed", he told Sul Informação Francisco Amaral, who trusts that the TC's authorization will be given quickly.
“The new infrastructure will have all the conditions for going to baths and for recreational boating and water sports. I think it will be a great success and a factor in combating desertification in this parish in the interior of the municipality», he believes.
“I would really like to have the work ready in the summer, but I don't know if it will be possible. We still have seven or eight months of work, so it will probably end in September», added the mayor of Castro Marim.
This despite the fact that it is an intervention that has been announced for a long time and that it was even the subject of a first competition, in 2017. “The work was delayed for a long time because of the opposition. Many months were wasted because we had to launch a new competition», he justified.
In addition to postponing the execution of the work, the opposition's lead to the award of the work, after the tender launched in 2017 was concluded, “made the work more expensive by 250 thousand euros”, accused Francisco Amaral.
Originally, the competition predicted that the work would cost 320 thousand euros, but, in the contract now signed, it is stipulated that the intervention will cost 768 thousand euros.
This work was, moreover, reason for one of several political battles between the PSD minority executive and the opposition, namely the PS and the Castro Marim Primeiro (CM1) movement.
The approved project was, in this case, presented by the person elected by the independent movement and provides for 'the construction of the Nautical Center with the guarantee that it will be concessioned to private parties, with the essential elements of this tender being defined immediately and thus reducing the financial effort to be allocated by the Municipality», according to explained, at the time, the CM1.
On the other hand, «the proposal made a commitment to invest in the requalification of the village of Odeleite, an amount equal to that invested in the construction of the Nautical Centre, regardless of the amount of community funding».
Yesterday, the socialists issued a statement, accusing Francisco Amaral of lying when he said that the work was more expensive by 250 euros because of the opposition.
The main opposition party says that, although the initial cost estimate, made in 2016, was 320 euros, with a contribution from the European Union of 220 thousand euros, the real cost of the work will exceed 830 thousand euros, having the autarchy to make “a financial effort in excess of 600 thousand euros, obtained through a bank loan”.
For the socialists, it would be possible to «do much more with 600 euros, if this amount were applied in a plan of imperative needs for the municipality, such as urban and landscape rehabilitation in the village and its riverside area, improving accessibility and quality of life of its inhabitants'. This project could «constitute an urgent and necessary tourist attraction for the parish», believes the PS.
It is certain that, in about eight months, there will be a beach in Odeleite.
«In Alcoutim, the river beach that I created when I was mayor attracts thousands of people in the summer. In Odeleite, I think it will be able to attract even more people, bearing in mind that this is a very popular location for its restaurants and which is located next to the IC27, much closer to the coast», concluded Francisco Amaral.
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