The Algarve Intermunicipal Assembly approved, last Wednesday, December 6th, the Budget and Major Options of the AMAL – Algarve Intermunicipal Community Plan for next year, which is around 7,3 million euros.
The contracting of programs and the operationalization of new instruments allocated to European funds, mobility, the environment and the social area are some of AMAL's priority sectors for next year.
The year will be marked by the effective start of the new European programming period (2021-2027) and the Algarve has never had as many resources as it does now, with AMAL responsible for managing around 180 million euros, coming from the Regional Operational Program, destined to two programs to be contracted with CCDR Algarve: ITI CIM (for projects in the areas of waste, water, health, education, digital transformation, combating climate change and urban requalification) and ITI PADRE 2 (for investments in low-density territories ).
Adding to these programs the measure contracted under the PRR, which currently has a value of around 40 million euros, AMAL will have the responsibility of managing more than 220 million euros from European funds.
Next year will also continue to be of great importance for the Algarve Intermunicipal Community as a Transport Authority.
The management of the concession of the public road passenger transport service and the increase in local and on-demand transport will be requirements throughout the year, and preparation of the new concession for public road passenger transport services is also planned.
It will also be up to AMAL to manage, in the region, the “Incentive + TP” Program, which replaces and integrates PART and PROTransP in public transport and work will continue with a view to creating the single intermodal pass, as well as of a system management platform and ticketing integration.
Requiring actions in the short and medium term, 2024 will also be an important year for the implementation of several measures foreseen in the Intermunicipal Plan for Adaptation to Climate Change (PIAAC), with the aim of providing Algarve municipalities with strategies to face the threats arising from climate change.
In this area, AMAL will also continue to assume responsibilities in the co-management of the Ria Formosa and Sapal de Castro Marim Natural Parks and plans to strengthen the Intermunicipal Forestry Office.
In the social area, he will work on streamlining the Algarve Social Development Plan, drawn up in partnership with the District Social Security Center of Faro. It will, on the other hand, maintain its focus on Training, continuing to anticipate and respond to the training needs of municipal employees, including those who were recently integrated through the process of decentralization of skills. AMAL will also have responsibilities in planning, coordinating and preparing the multi-annual network of dual certification educational provision and will be responsible for implementing the Intermunicipal Plan for the Promotion of School Success in the Algarve.
In the period before the Agenda, two motions and one recommendation were presented by the PSD Intermunicipal Group. Namely: the motion “Recife do Algarve Marine Natural Park – Pedra do Valado, for a Compensation Program and Support Measures for Fishermen” (rejected) and the motion “For improving the quality of the collection of recyclable waste in the Algarve” ( approved) and the recommendation “Drought in the Algarve, Pressure and Solutions” (approved).
Osvaldo Gonçalves, vice-president of AMAL, also provided some clarifications to questions raised by deputies about Algar's performance, leaving, from the outset, the certainty that this issue also concerns all mayors, which has been frequently debated in meetings of the Intermunicipal Council (which includes the presence of the 16 presidents of the Municipalities of the Algarve) and that work has been done to try to find a solution in this area.
He also took the opportunity to highlight the work that has been developed in the area of Water Efficiency, specifically with regard to the 35 million euros that AMAL is managing within the scope of the Regional Water Efficiency Plan, noting that the approval of the Projects in this area have gone so well that a reinforcement of 5 million euros has already been approved to open new notices.
Of the 58 members of the Intermunicipal Assembly, 46 deputies from the various political forces represented in the 16 municipal assemblies in the Algarve were present.
Since it was installed, the Intermunicipal Assembly has held sessions in five municipalities in the region (Faro, Lagoa, Vila Real de Santo António, Loulé and now Castro Marim), within the scope of the Intermunicipal Assembly in Movement script, an initiative that the president of the Assembly, José Águas da Cruz, has been implementing.
AMAL Intermunicipal Assembly meetings take place twice a year, with the next scheduled for April 2024.
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