The mayor of Castro Marim estimated that the works to bring home drinking water to all scattered villages in the county will be completed by the end of his third and last term, in 2025.
Francisco Amaral (PSD) told the Lusa agency that, after taking office in Castro Marim, in 2013, he realized that "there were still 57 hills that did not even have potable water" and where the "supply was done through non-potable holes" , now missing the connection to "half a dozen" villages that, in the summer, didn't even have water, because the boreholes were dry.
The mayor recalled the «difficulties» felt throughout his presidency, first with an internal opposition that would lead to a split with the PSD and subsequent independent candidacy of his predecessor José Estevens, and then with a relative majority that was blocked by the opposition and which made the executive's action difficult, he said.
The mayor of Castro Marim said that it was possible, however, to "turn the situation around", after mid-term elections that returned the lost absolute majority to the PSD and allowed the executive to start developing projects such as supplying drinking water to the 57 heaps without access to this essential good.
Asked by Lusa whether the water distribution work in scattered villages will be completed by the end of his mandate, in 2025, Francisco Amaral replied that yes and indicated that the works are now reaching the villages of Matos and Pisa Barro.
«I am convinced that half a dozen of them [villages] are missing. There is one that worries a lot, which is a much larger hill, the Cortelha, but we have already found a technical solution and, in principle, it will go to tender for the work in a short time», said the mayor of Castro Marim.
In the economic area, the mayor highlighted the importance of creating four new tourist developments, with five-star hotels, which were «unlocked after twenty years at a standstill» due to the financial crisis and will be «a guarantee of the future», creating « hundreds of jobs with some qualification».
One of them is located on the coast (Verde Lago) and three next to the Guadiana river (Quinta do Vale, Corte Velho and Almada D'ouro), explained Francisco Amaral, stressing that the first, located between Praia Verde and Altura, is what it is more advanced and could be implemented within two years.
On the reasons that led to the delay of about two decades in the development of these projects, the mayor considered that «the financial crisis that happened in 2007 caused, in a way, these undertakings to stop completely», but highlighted the fact that these obstacles have been overcome and the projects are “finally moving forward”.
Francisco Amaral also highlighted that the developments are being developed in line with the Commission for Coordination and Regional Development (CCDR) of the Algarve and with the Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests (ICNF), which belongs to the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA) .
On the other hand, the mayor blamed the territorial organization mechanisms and the new laws of the «alleged defense of the forest» as the main causes of depopulation and desertification in the interior of the country.
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