Socialist MP, Luís Graça, who also is the leader of the Algarve branch of the party, blames the previous PSD-CDS coalition government for the Court of Auditors’ refusal to authorise the EN125 upgrade between Olhão and Vila Real de Santo António.
In a statement send to newsrooms, Graça explained that the State needed to be in full compliance with the original contract between Rotas do Algarve Litoral and the government.
That is why the roadworks have been put on hold. The answer is, according to Luís Graça, that the concession holder must be called in by the government to start and complete the upgrade and maintenance work as per the original contract which was altered.
""There was a contract in force, which provided for the full upgrade of the EN125 between Vila do Bispo and Vila Real de Santo António, and the coalition government promoted, irresponsibly, its alteration in 2014, clearly affecting the populations of the Eastern Algarve, Monchique and São Brás de Alportel, arrogantly claiming a set of cost savings that were only achieved by not carrying out the work and completely abandoning the f EN125 between Olhão and Vila Real of Santo Antonio,” reads Graça's statement.
The State, through Infraestruturas de Portugal, assumed the maintenance and upgrade costs for the road, publishing this as a saving - the same trick used for the Via do Infante which now is maintained by taxpayers while the concession holder simply banks the toll income, plus a subsidy as the toll income is lower than predicted in the contract.
Last Thursday, June 28, the Court of Auditors refused to approve the revision of the Algarve Litoral subconcession contract, which would have allowed Infraestruturas de Portugal to proceed with the upgrade works between Olhão and Vila Real de Santo António, scheduled for 2019.
'Blaming it on the last lot,' does Graça no credit as the current Socialist Party government, under António Costa, has been in charge long enough to untangle a known contractual situation that clearly disadvantages the eastern Algarve.
In this regard, the government is culpable in allowing a situation to develop that gives it a reason, the Court of Auditors, to delay the start of the urgently needed upgrade for this crumbling road.
