The Algarve Intermunicipal Assembly demanded in the session held this Wednesday, April 27, the reinforcement of funds for the PART – Public Transport Tariff Reduction Support Program.
According to the Intermunicipal Assembly, António Pina, president of AMAL – Comunidade Intermunicipal do Algarve, took the opportunity to talk about this PART issue that has worried the mayors.
According to the Intermunicipal Assembly, there must be an “urgent reinforcement, on the part of the Government, of the funds of the Program to Support Public Transport Tariff Reduction, since this will be the only solution to keep the Algarve region in this project, since that the municipalities will not be able to bear the burdens they are bearing for much longer'.
Furthermore, the Government announced, at the end of January, an increase in the amount of PART by 15 million euros, to be distributed among several Intermunicipal Communities and the Metropolitan Areas of Lisbon and Porto, as Regional Transport Authorities.
The decision came after it was found that, during the pandemic, there was an expected decrease in the number of passengers and, to address the problems resulting from the under-financing of the public transport system, the Government announced this additional amount.
But “AMAL was not included in this reinforcement” and is now “confronted with a situation that makes it difficult to maintain the program in the region”.
Another issue discussed was the scarcity of water in the region.
The president of AMAL undertook to «send to all the members of the Intermunicipal Assembly a status report on the interventions planned for this area, within the scope of the Recovery and Resilience Program».
This session also served to approve AMAL's 2021 Rendering of Accounts documents, the 1st Budget Review and Major Options of the 2022 Plan and several motions and votes of condolence presented by the PS, PSD and CDU Intermunicipal Groups.
Namely: a PSD motion for the “Live transmission of the Algarve Intermunicipal Assembly Meetings” (approved by a majority); another PSD motion “For the construction of the Foupana Dam” (approved by a majority) and a PS motion, for the “Assignment of the designation «International Airport of Faro – Almirante Gago Coutinho» to the International Airport of Faro” (by consensus among the Intermunicipal Groups, this motion was withdrawn to be presented at a future meeting).
Three documents presented by the CDU Intermunicipal Group were also discussed and voted on: the motion “The closure of pediatric emergencies in Hospitals of Faro and Portimão cannot continue”, approved by a majority, while the motion “For the improvement of public transport in the Algarve” and the “Vote of Condolences for the victims of the war in Ukraine” were rejected, considering the wording of these documents.
In conclusion, the PS group also proposed a vote of condolence for the death of Joaquim Vairinhos, approved unanimously and by acclamation.
There was also a more solemn moment, when a minute's silence was observed in memory of the victims of the war in Ukraine.
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