Rodrigo Teixeira, 30 years old, born in Faro, final year student of the Integrated Master's Degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Algarve, and former president of the Academic Association of the University of Algarve (2016 and 2017), is the head of the Livre pelo Algarve list in the Legislative Elections on March 10th.
Now that the election campaign is underway, the Sul Informação is publishing interviews with the list leaders of the 14 parties or coalitions that are running for the Legislatures on March 10th.
The same questions were sent, in a timely manner, to all 14 first candidates, covering the main themes in focus in the Algarve.
The interviews will be published as responses reach our newsroom.
Sul Informação – What are the priorities of your political force in the next legislature for the Algarve?
Rodrigo Teixeira – The priorities of LIVRE’s candidacy for the Algarve for the next legislature are Housing, the fight against Drought/Lack of Water and Health, followed by the diversification of the Algarve Economy, Education, Transport and Mobility, as well as implementation of Regionalization.
SI – What led you to accept being head of the list for the party you represent?
RT – LIVRE is the only party with a parliamentary seat that chooses its candidates through a system of Primary Elections – opening the doors to civil society -, that is, members, supporters and any citizen who subscribes to the principles of LIVRE can be a candidate for candidate, voted and ordered according to the votes of LIVRE members and supporters, resulting in a final order.
This opening of LIVRE to citizens allowed my candidacy, which was motivated by the current situation of political instability and governmental inaction for the Algarve and by feeling a lack of effective representation, both as an Algarvian – by the growing feeling of oblivion of the Central Power towards the Algarve -, whether as a young person, because there is a lack of renewal and youth references in Politics, wanting young people to get involved and say “present” in building the future of their Country.
SI – What are the expectations and objectives of your political force in relation to these Legislative Elections?
RT – In these Legislative Elections, LIVRE’s expectation and objective is to increase the number of votes and elect two or more deputies, in order to be able to constitute a Parliamentary Group, which allows it to have a more complete work in the Assembly of the Republic in all Parliamentary Committees .
SI – What remains to be done in the Algarve?
RT – This is a burning question, there are so many problems to be resolved in the Algarve. Based on the priorities I mentioned in the answer to the first question of this interview, I briefly highlight the most urgent situations to be resolved:
Combating Drought and Water Lack, with the public investment necessary to avoid losing 30% of water in water pipes, as well as investing in more water reuse systems (WWTP and rainwater), as listed in the answer to the following question ;
Health: it is necessary to fulfill the 22-year-old proposal of building the new Algarve Central Hospital and monitoring the decentralization of Local Health Units (ULS), as well as improving the careers of health professionals, existing infrastructures and reinforcing care Primary Health Care, making them centered and adapted to the needs of each user;
Housing: it is necessary to promote the construction of medium and low class public housing, at controlled costs, converging with the European average of around 10% (in Portugal it is only 2%); inventory unused public buildings and convert them into affordable rental housing and University Residences, removing pressure from Algarve cities; support to help with the purchase of the first home with financing of up to 30% for Permanent Own Housing at controlled costs;
The diversification of the Algarve Economy, so that it is not just based mainly on Tourism and combating seasonality, investing in the development of other sectors of the Economy in the Algarve;
Transition to a new paradigm of ecological, cooperative and supportive development, promoting a diverse economic base, which reinforces the role of small and medium-sized companies (SMEs), with environmentally sustainable infrastructures and activities, which incorporates the circularity of resources, uses, materials and community assets and capacity building;
Education, where it is necessary to make “peace with the Schools”, negotiating with teachers’ unions to replace frozen service time and making the teaching career more attractive, and it is also necessary to value non-teaching employees who are extremely important for the functioning of the Public School, which must be reinforced.
The Algarve has the particularity of having greater difficulty hiring teachers because of housing costs.
We are the region in mainland Portugal with the highest percentage of school dropouts and it is necessary to reduce this. The Algarve is also the region in mainland Portugal with the least transition between Secondary Education and Higher Education;
Mobility and Transport, focusing on an increase in supply and effective coordination between the various public transport services, greater investment in the railway in the Algarve – completion of the electrification of the Algarve Line between Lagos-Tunes and Faro-VRSA (gain of just 20 minutes), as well as the electrification of the Alentejo Line between Tunes and Torre Vã, which will allow 30 minutes to be saved on the journey between the Algarve and Lisbon, making it faster than road transport.
Still in Mobility, investing in a network of cycle paths in the Algarve, eliminating tolls on the A22, with complementary roads, such as the EN125 and EN124, not offering quality alternative responses, reinforcing mobility within the Algarve region;
Implement regionalization in the Algarve, as an essential guarantee of territorial cohesion and balanced development, as provided for in the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic.
SI – Drought and lack of water is a pressing issue in the Algarve. What solutions do you advocate, in the short term, knowing that the water currently available only arrives until August? And in the medium and long term?
RT – The issue of drought in the Algarve is a direct consequence of climate change and the problem of lack of water is caused by the lack of public investment that has existed, as we have lost around 30% of water due to water inefficiency in the region. Therefore, making the Algarve more resilient means ensuring more efficient water management.
I do not believe in a system that penalizes those who are least at fault: the people of the Algarve already pay for the most expensive water in the country and it will not be through the threat to ordinary citizens and small farmers of cost increases, cuts and fines, that we will be able to solve this problem. .
39 of the 43 golf courses in the Algarve still use drinking water to irrigate the several hectares they occupy, which is completely unthinkable in a region with such water scarcity!
This is a clear example that there is a lot to do in the Region, and it is urgent to promote water reuse system projects, especially WWTP (Waste Water Treatment Plants) and rainwater.
LIVRE takes the issue of the drought in the Algarve as a priority, having already presented motions at the Municipal Assembly of Vila Real de Santo António, through its elected municipal deputy. Therefore, and encompassing all sectors, we advocate an integrated approach that includes the following measures:
– Reducing losses in water supply systems through programs to control and combat leaks and appropriate network renewal strategies.
– The promotion of financial mechanisms to encourage investment in wastewater treatment systems and transport for reuse, encouraging greater reuse of treated wastewater (ApR),
– The promotion of projects to recharge aquifers, through injection holes, in areas of underground water scarcity, using wastewater resulting from treatment plants and collected rainwater.
– The use of remaining water from public swimming pools to irrigate green spaces.
– Protect groundwater in the context of municipal master plans (PDM) and their respective review, namely through the appropriate location of projects classified as “locally strategic” or of “national interest” in order to safeguard, within a National Ecological Reserve, the strategic areas of infiltration, protection and recharge of aquifers, strongly dependent on the soil as a geological entity responsible for regulating the processes of infiltration of rainwater and its purification.
– Privilege production modes that allow the simultaneous implementation of measures beneficial to biodiversity, the maintenance or recovery of soil and thus providing alternative future uses of soil, and the minimization of the use of agrochemicals and natural resources necessary for production.
SI – Health is a very deficient sector in the Algarve and in the country. What measures do you recommend to solve health problems in the Algarve?
RT – The state of health in the Algarve is also a symptom of the region's problems, in which the main factors are the lack of human resources, the difficulty of attracting health professionals, housing costs, the devaluation of careers in the public sector and the lack of investment in health infrastructures in the Algarve, in Health Centers and Hospitals in Faro, Portimão and Lagos.
As an example, it is inconceivable for a region like the Algarve to have just one pedopsychiatrist and specific closures at the Portimão Hospital of services such as the Birth Center and Pediatric Emergency, given that it is 70 kilometers away from the Hospital de Faro.
It is also essential to strengthen the synergy between the Centro Hospitalar Universitário do Algarve and the University of Algarve, in terms of training new health professionals and articulating with scientific research centers in the health area.
In addition to strengthening and advancing this reform of the SNS of Local Health Units (ULS), it is essential to value professional careers in the SNS, promote health literacy and prevent disease, humanize health care and invest in mental health.
SI – What about the Algarve Central Hospital? What should be done?
RT – I attended the São Luís Primary School, in Faro, when, in 2002, the Minister of Health of the Government of Durão Barroso promised the construction of a hospital unit in Parque das Cidades Faro/ Loulé.
22 years later and the land next to the Algarve Stadium remains vacant, with successive promises in the various legislative election campaigns, still unfulfilled, demonstrating that PS and PSD have failed the people of the Algarve.
It is not just important to build the Hospital, it is important to provide it with adequate human resources for its services. It is also essential that the new Hospital Central do Algarve gets off the ground as soon as possible, doing so in conjunction with the readaptation that will be necessary to carry out the Hospital de Faro.
SI – The Centro Hospitalar Universitário do Algarve and the Regional Health Administration joined, from January 1st, into a single body, the Algarve Local Health Unit. What do you think of this change and what expectations do you have for your future?
RT – It is necessary to understand the benefits of implementing a new management model with Local Health Units (ULS), in which this decentralization allows for integrated management of the Algarve Hospital and University Center – Faro, Portimão and Lagos -, the Health Center Groups (ACeS) and the Continuing Care Network. It is necessary to reinforce Primary Health Care, making it closer to the populations and adapted to the needs of each user.
SI – The previous Government, now only in management, transformed the Regional Coordination and Development Commissions into Public Institutes, adding new functions (such as Agriculture and Fisheries, as well as Culture). What do you think of this change and what expectations do you have for your future? Is this a first step towards Regionalization?
RT – This concentration of competences in the CCDR does not complete the process of democratic Regionalization that remains to be completed in the Algarve and in our country.
However, it is necessary to monitor, evaluate and guarantee the appropriate budgetary allocation and allocation of technical resources necessary for the decentralization of competences carried out in the last legislatures for the Regional Coordination and Development Commissions in various areas such as agriculture, fisheries, territorial planning, culture , environment, nature conservation and education, as well as monitoring and management of European funds and implementation of regional programs.
SI – Are you for or against Regionalization? Why?
RT – A vote for LIVRE is a 100% vote in favor of Regionalization.
The implementation of Regionalization, as provided for in the Constitution, as a guarantee of territorial cohesion and the development of the Algarve with planning for a territory as a whole.
We have a CCDR (Regional Coordination and Development Commission) not directly elected by citizens and AMAL (Association of Algarve Municipalities) does not speak with one voice, with the clear example of the announcement of the increase in the cost of water (as if the people of the Algarve no longer pay for the most expensive water in the country…), retreating after some municipalities “broke” the agreement.
A 16-speed Algarve is not a solution, it is necessary to think and plan the Algarve as a whole.
In short, it is necessary to have an intermediate structure for managing the territory, since at the moment we have a State that is too centralist and distant in Lisbon and decentralization only in municipalities, each rowing in its own direction.
SI – Will the integration of the former Regional Directorates of Culture and Agriculture and Fisheries into the CCDR have beneficial effects for these sectors or not?
RT – When there are organic changes, it is necessary to take time to understand the benefits or less positive points of these changes. The Regional Directorates of Culture and Agriculture and Fisheries were direct extensions of the respective Ministries; now, they are integrated together, and theoretically it is expected that they will produce greater synergy between them, for the benefit of the region.
SI – What solutions do you recommend for tolls on Via do Infante?
RT – Via do Infante (A22) was built mostly (71%) with European ERDF funds, with the remaining 29% built under the SCUT regime, which supposedly means No Cost for the User. The truth is that the free national roads in the Algarve, especially the EN125, do not constitute a viable alternative for mobility.
Even if we abolish the payment of tolls, the company with which the State contracted to manage the highway will have to be reimbursed and, therefore, we will be indirectly paying for the highway with our taxes.
For these reasons, people in the Algarve feel that paying tolls is unfair. The abolition of tolls on Via do Infante will improve the mobility of Algarve residents, reinforcing mobility within the Algarve Region.
SI – And for the completion of works on the EN125, from Olhão to Vila Real de Santo António?
RT – The future of mobility involves a transport system that tends to be collective and shareable, in combination with smooth transport and pedestrian prioritization.
Alongside the development of this future, the current reality requires urgent interventions in places that present the greatest danger to the population.
Estrada Nacional 125 is a road with a high rate of road accidents, aggravated by the existence of several black spots, especially between Olhão and Vila Real de Santo António, and it is essential to improve the road surface, signage and lighting.
I identify the places most in need of intervention: the section between Olhão and Alfandanga, in the areas of Luz de Tavira and Cacela Velha and the section between Altura and Vila Real de Santo António, requiring the construction of a roundabout at the intersection with the road that connects to Praia Verde, as well as moving towards the construction of the Olhão bypass.
The LIVRE deputy elected in the Municipal Assembly of Vila Real de Santo António has already approved motions that require improvement works on the EN125, but it is necessary to implement them.
SI – One of the biggest problems in the Algarve is mobility. Work is being carried out to electrify the Algarve Line, the creation of the Metrobus is expected and there is talk of a possible TGV connection between Faro and Huelva/Seville. What is your opinion on these issues and what solutions do you advocate?
RT – Mobility and transport, focusing on an increase in supply and effective coordination between the various public transport services, greater investment in the railway in the Algarve – completion of the electrification of the Algarve Line between Lagos-Tunes and Faro-VRSA (gain of just 20 minutes), as well as the electrification of the Alentejo Line between Tunes and Torre Vã, which will allow 30 minutes to be saved on the journey between the Algarve and Lisbon, making it faster than road transport.
It is necessary to reflect on the route of the Algarve railway line, as the route does not serve the cities of Albufeira, Loulé, the Algarve International Airport Faro and the Gambelas Campus of the University of Algarve.
The new Metrobus is under study and could resolve mobility issues between Olhão, Faro, Airport, University, Parque das Cidades and Loulé, but it is necessary to understand whether the project is viable.
Mobility between the Algarve and Andalusia is fundamental for strategic reasons and, at the moment, is only carried out by road, making perfect sense to extend it to railways, as happens between Minho and Galicia.
SI – The president of the Algarve Tourism Region complained that the budget of this organization is short and has not been increased for many years. What do you recommend for this sector in the Algarve region?
RT – Tourism, one of the main economic sectors in the Algarve, deserves to be supported. However, I believe that this support should be aimed at encouraging more sustainable, ecological and environmentally friendly tourism, combating seasonality and supporting the development of the territory.
It is necessary to promote financial mechanisms to encourage decarbonization and increase the sector's water efficiency, adopting, for example, more efficient technologies, electrification and self-consumption of renewable energy, implementation of water reuse systems and waste reduction mechanisms.
SI – In the current Government, does Tourism share a State secretariat with Commerce and Services? Do you think it is enough? Or should a future Government give more importance to Tourism? In what way?
RT – In 2023, at a national level, the tourism and travel sector is expected to contribute 40,4 billion euros to the Portuguese economy, representing 16,8% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP). More than organic models of Government, it is necessary to structure support and direct it to where it is most needed, as I indicated in the previous answer.
SI – In the case of more divisive issues, will you vote for the AR according to your conviction, even if it goes against your party's guidelines?
RT – Citizen representatives must always remember that they do not represent themselves, but rather the populations that elected them, which is my commitment to the Algarve, as a candidate. It is as if a “Contract” was signed with the voters, using the electoral program as the basis of work.
SI – Do you consider that it would be useful to change the electoral law, to create single-member and partial constituencies and a national compensation circle, and thus bring deputies closer to citizens? Why or why not?
RT – Without a doubt, a reform of the electoral law is necessary, in order to improve the representation of citizens. LIVRE has been defending the National Compensation Circle for many years – taking as an example the Compensation Circle in the Regional Elections of the Azores – and will continue to fight for its implementation at national level.
Conversely, single-member and partial circles worsen this closer representation that is desirable between representatives and represented.
SI – Do you want to add any more topics or questions?
RT – Housing as a central issue in the Algarve: we are the region where it is most difficult to buy a house, relating the average salary (188 euros below the minimum wage) and the value of housing per square meter, which affects the placement of doctors and other healthcare professionals. health, teachers, police, among many other professionals.
The Algarve has poverty rates above the national average, greater material and social deprivation and the highest early school leaving rate in mainland Portugal. The Algarve Social Development Plan indicates an estimate of more than 10 thousand children living in extreme poverty in the Algarve, which is quite shocking data;
The fight against energy poverty: we are the country in Western Europe where it is coldest indoors. To this end, LIVRE proposed the implementation of the 3C Program (Home, Comfort and Climate), supporting people in investing in improving energy efficiency, also helping to lower electricity bills and save the Planet;
The need to support Culture, especially in a peripheral region like the Algarve;
Support for populations and the development of rural territories, supporting Local Action Groups;
Promote more sustainable and efficient agricultural and forestry development, with agricultural practices that respect the environment, prioritizing measures that promote biodiversity and soil conservation.
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