The Citizenship Group “By a pedestrian bridge to the beach of Cabanas de Tavira”, represented by José António Leite Pinto, wrote an open letter, calling for the construction of this access "as a matter of urgency", given the lack of responses from the competent authorities.
Over the last year, the Citizenship Group sent several presentations, to which it received no response, to entities with responsibility for overseeing the estuary and the island of Cabanas, namely the Municipality of Tavira, the Coordination and Regional Development Commission (CCDR) of the Algarve, the ARH Algarve and the Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forests (ICNF).
At issue is the accessibility to the beach on the island of Cabanas de Tavira, with a crossing "incapable of responding to demand and is not in line with the quality required of a public passenger transport service", says the open letter .
"The long lines at peak times, the impossibility of access to people with reduced mobility" and "maintaining social distance" are other complaints presented in the letter, situations that "besides being questionable, create a terrible image".
Other aspects highlighted by the Citizenship Group are "the impossibility of an effective response in the event of an emergency that requires the evacuation of the island", the crossing of boats in Cabanas is "unsafe at various levels", having already registered "some accidents of remarkable seriousness', or the fact that, in low season, the passage of people to the other side of the estuary is practically non-existent, with 'the few opportunities being charged at a high cost'.
"The call for a bridge is for the legitimate right of free public access, an accessibility that is equally inclusive for people with reduced mobility, a permanent, safe access, integrated into the landscape, built with ecological materials and that does not constitute a barrier to permitted navigability on site, which, as is known, is only allowed for small, non-motorized boats», says the open poster.
Also in the text of the letter, the Citizenship Group points out, giving examples, the differences between a pedestrian bridge and a nautical bridge, noting that, in Portugal, «public entities have invested in pedestrian accessibility to the beaches and even several beaches in Ria Formosa are already benefiting from paths of this type».
The letter also exposes the "business of the commercial crossing by boats", saying that it is public "a project of crossing for boats", by Docapesca, "to be handed over to private exploration, on an exclusive basis for 25 years".
The construction of this bridge will bring a “predictable drastic reduction of boats, as well as the terrible environmental aggression on the Ria Formosa. Once the estuary is freed from intensive boat traffic and all the resulting pollution, it will be possible to re-qualify it for activities of a nature such as swimming, sailing and rowing, and in this way to promote healthy sports practices among young people».
«Given the natural conditions of Cabanas, it is not understandable that public entities persist in rejecting the pedestrian crossing and, simultaneously, sponsor the massive crossing by boats and regular dredging in order to make this same crossing viable, which constitutes a visible, audible and odorous environmental attack».
This open letter will now be sent to the aforementioned entities, as well as the Captaincy of Tavira, Docapesca, the Ministers of Environment and the Sea, the Attorney General, the President of the Republic, and all political parties with parliamentary seats.
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