The Algarve deputies of the PS questioned Pedro Nuno Santos, minister of Infrastructure and Housing, on the "degradation of CTT services since their privatization" that has led to the closure of posts such as Vila Nova de Cacela, in Vila Real de Santo António.
PS deputies lament the current reality of CTT, "a company that is responsible for a public service of extreme importance for the country", pointing to the degradation of the service provided and working conditions since privatization and the continued reduction of stations of post offices, 'now transformed into CTT stores', as well as the number of workers, and also the closure of 'many of the postal distribution centres'.
In the question to the Government, which has the Algarve deputy Célia Paz as its first subscriber, it is emphasized that the worsening of the degradation of services verified during the pandemic “is not due to the lack of professionalism of the postmen, but to the lack of sufficient numbers of employees', as a result of the CTT administration having decided to 'terminate fixed-term employees and all those who were on a trial period'.
«In the Algarve, since mid-March, the delay in the distribution of correspondence has been up to 15 days, there is no differentiation in the typology, whether blue, green or Express», points out Célia Paz, who denounces that «due to the termination of contracts by CTT, the remaining workers are “obliged” to work sometimes eleven hours a day».
«The Algarve has been a region very harassed and harmed by these decisions of the CTT administration», regrets the PS deputy, who also points to the example of the closure of the postal service concession in the parish of Vila Nova de Cacela, in Vila Real de Santo António, whose concessionaire “announced the termination of the contract with CTT due to numerous complaints from citizens for delays in delivering correspondence, even though they are not their responsibility”.
Highlighting the "social role of CTT, which provide an essential public service to all Portuguese and the country", and remembering that much of the correspondence is "urgent orders" and "vouchers/checks for subsidies and pensions for elderly and needy people", PS parliamentarians consider that «CTT does not meet the quality of service indicators required by the regulatory authority».
For this reason, the parliamentarians want to know if the Ministry of Infrastructure and Housing «is aware of the degradation in which CTT services are found», questioning what measures it is considering «so that the image of the provision of a public and social service does not remain in cause".
Célia Paz, Joaquina Matos, Luís Graça, Ana Passos and Francisco Oliveira also want to know “what measures the Government intends to take so that CTT does not stop serving the populations of Vila Nova de Cacela”.
The Algarve socialists also want the Government to clarify whether, after the end of the CTT universal service concession, on December 31 of this year, it will take into account decisions to «guarantee the continuity and availability of the universal postal service with the required quality'.
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