The Vila Real de Santo António City Council (VRSA) guarantees that the sale of the Hotel Guadiana building, which belongs to the municipal company SGU – Sociedade de Gestão Urbana, is a «more correct option» and that the purchase of the property by the municipality would never be authorized by the Court of Auditors.
Contacted by Sul Informação, the municipality of Vila Real responded to criticisms and accusations made by the CDU, following the lead of a proposal to keep this building in the public sphere.
From the outset, he defended that the sale of the property is the right path, «taking into account that the municipality of Vila Real de Santo António has no aptitude for the management of tourist units» and that the option goes «in the direction of the assumed guidelines and obligations before the Municipal Support Fund (FAM), namely with regard to the reduction of bank exposure and future risks of default by current concessionaires».
"The sale of the Hotel Guadiana, at this stage, will reduce bank exposure by more than two million euros and release funds to meet other financial obligations assumed by VRSA-SGU," added the Chamber of VRSA.
After seeing the failure of their claim for the SGU to back down with the decision to sell the property, the communists proposed that the Chamber exercise the right of preference and buy the property from the municipal company, which is bankrupt and in the process of dissolution.
«Contrary to what the CDU says, the City Council of VRSA could never exercise the right of first refusal and proceed with payment against bills. This is an irregular operation that would be disapproved by the Court of Auditors for lack of available funds and, in this sense, the municipality would be failing with the obligations assumed before the FAM, by contributing to the municipal deficit," explained the municipality.
The city council executive from Vila Reale further clarified that “the Hotel Guadiana was not expropriated by the City Council of VRSA because of a property dispute, but by VRSA-SGU – within the scope of its competences and obligations, arising from its being the Management Entity of the Systematic Urban Rehabilitation Area of the Historic Center of VRSA – as the property was at risk of partial collapse».
«Contrary to what the CDU says, the expropriation process is irreversible and it has already been decreed by the court and duly registered, being in question, at the moment, the fair value already paid by VRSA-SGU for the expropriation, whose value was attributed by the commission of court-appointed expert evaluators. The declaration of Public Utility focuses only on the act and obligation of rehabilitation, an operation successfully completed", assured the municipality.
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