In a week during which the Algarve at last is being taken seriously by a traditionally Lisbon-centric government, the long-held anguish and anger over the marginalisation of the region’s two commercial ports is nearly over.
In a winning move, Fisheries Minister Ana Paula Vitorino announced on Friday that she is setting up a new administrative body for the Algarve’s docks, with the region’s mayors at the helm.
In addition, of a long promised investment of €30 million, €20 million will be made available to extend the Portimão quayside and dredge the harbour area to enable larger cruise ships to use the facility with ease and in safety.
"About €30 million will be invested in improvements in the ports of Portimão and Faro, which will be managed by a new entity, Portos do Algarve, which will be set up and also will manage the region’s marinas and recreational ports," announced Vitorino after signing the protocol establishing the new ports management commission for the Algarve.
“As for the port of Faro, the issue is different," said the minister, adding, "what is on the table is a proposal to transform the commercial port into a marina area, linked to recreational boating." This will be a matter that will be analysed by this new entity.”
"Portos do Algarve" will be run by the mayors, using their group ‘AMAL,’ Docapesca and the existing Administration of the Port of Sines.
The document was signed in Portimão by the minister, the Deputy Minister Eduardo Cabrita and the President of AMAL, Jorge Botelho.
According to Ana Paula Vitorino, the committee now has 90 days to present a report on Algarve’s ports, and a management model for the administration and development of the Algarve’s commercial and recreational ports.
This report is to include a list of work that needs doing in addition to the work already on the work schedule of the current Ports Administration of Sines and of the Algarve.
Ana Paula Vitorino said the new entity will always be presided over by the AMAL as the region’s mayors “know the problems and needs of the Algarve."
The minister, now on a roll, added that Government also is to transfer, from Docapesca to the local councils, the management of beaches and riverside areas where there is no activity related to Docapesca, the National Maritime Authority or the Port Administration of Sines and the Algarve.
"It is not good from the point of view of the management efficiency that beaches and riverside areas are under the jurisdiction of several entities, when in fact this management should be done by the local authorities," the minister stressed.
A delighted mayor, Jorge Botelho, said that AMAL "is ready to take on this commitment which was asked for years ago” and that the mayors are eagerly waiting to star running their waterside areas without having to battle with various government departments and bodies.
The last president of the ‘Ports Authority of Sines and of the Algarve,’ João Soares Franco, was 'relieved of his post' in September, having made clear his attiude towards the Algarve's ports under his control.
Portimão’s dock expansion scheme, described by the former Minister of the Economy as a 'no brainer' to boost the local economy, was criticised by Franco, "the cruise business will never pay for the investment - even the cheaper option" and that in addition to environmental implications, extending the docks in Portimão “will have little economic viability.”
This sort of attitude from the man in charge of developing Portimão's trade, led to the commissioning of interminable reports, years of deliberate delays and a breakdown in the management relationship between Sines head office and employees in the south.
With a few signatures on a bit of paper, and some refreshingly logical thinking, Ana Paula Vitorino has released the Algarve from outside management, agreed the vital investment for Portimão's docks and given the region's councils the power to control their own water-fronts, free from the insanity of multi-agency State involvement.
