It will be a "complete mandate for a political project", with access to housing, climate and administrative simplification and modernization as priorities for the next four years. Vítor Aleixo was sworn in this Wednesday night, October 13, as mayor of Loulé, in a ceremony in which he also confessed that the revision of the Municipal Master Plan (PDM) is one of the main challenges.
The Cineteatro Louletano was the stage for the installation of the municipal bodies until 2025, with the swearing in of the new executive and all the members of the Municipal Assembly of Loulé.
Not forgetting “the levels of abstention that we cannot ignore” (in Loulé only 40,70% of voters voted), Vítor Aleixo, who will serve his last term, guaranteed in his speech that working “for the people will be the alpha and omega of this executive».
For the rest, the PS has a large majority – with six councilors against two from the coalition headed by the PSD and one from Chega – which will allow the mayor of Loulé room for manoeuvre.
For this mandate, for Vítor Aleixo, there are “three fundamental axes”.
In addition to access to housing, "the need that some thousands of citizens who live and work in our municipality face", climate change will also remain at the top of the priorities.
“We will have a strong environmental policy so that we fulfill our ethical duty towards future generations. The challenges are huge. This is a global problem, but it is locally that solutions have to be found. This is a dossier of great responsibility that we will continue to develop», said Vítor Aleixo, speaking to journalists, after taking office.
Finally, administrative simplification and modernization is the last of these three "flags".
“The bureaucratic difficulties faced by citizens are well known. It is not just urban licensing: this also happens with mere requests for certificates and other necessary documents. This is a problem to be faced with the aim of solving it as quickly as possible», he guaranteed.
As for the main projects for this mandate, Vítor Aleixo spoke of the Algarvensis Geopark, which also brings together the municipalities of Albufeira and Silves, of the Algarve Biomedical Center buildings, which will be built in Loulé and Vilamoura, of the investment in the production of cinematographic content (with the new studios that will be born in an old brewery) and “in other economic modalities outside the tourism-beach binomial”.
One of the great challenges, as the mayor himself confessed, is the «revision of the PDM» in Loulé, which has to be completed «by 2022».
"It's a very demanding challenge, but we can't rest even a minute on managing this dossier," he told reporters.
Asked if this will be a continuation mandate, Vítor Aleixo, who has led the municipality since 2013, considered that this will be the «closure of a political project that I had since the first day».
«We want to leverage economic activity. The next four years will be extremely demanding – with structuring works in equipment for health, education and cultural heritage, mobility, water efficiency, water and sewage supply and reforestation. I will try to dignify politics and work for the public good so that, in the future, I can leave others with a more modern, friendlier council where it is a pleasure to live», he concluded.
This inauguration ceremony was also marked by the change of leader in the Municipal Assembly. Hugo Nunes, the former president, left the municipal life – with a speech in which he spoke of the honor of having belonged to AM and several executives of the Chamber since 1997 – and Carlos Silva Gomes is the new president of the Loulé Municipal Assembly.
The former Civil Governor and commander of the GNR in the Algarve guaranteed that he will always work "for the development of the municipality", hoping that the Municipal Assembly will be a "space for debate", but where any "lack of respect will be a lack of respect for the citizen voters».
Joana Guerreiro da Conceição and Fernando Pereira Marques, both from the PS, which was the only political force that presented a list, were elected 1st and 2nd secretaries of the Loulé Municipal Assembly, with 26 votes in favor and 9 abstentions.
Photos: Pedro Lemos | Sul Informação
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