With a spend of nearly €800,000, the construction of the river beach planned for Odeleite reservoir is nearly ready to start. The contractor has been appointed but the background to the project’s ever-shifting finances are mysterious.
The Council opposition party, the Socialists, points out that the quote for the work just two years ago was €320,000 with the EU chipping in €220,000, so why has it gone up to €830,000 with ratepayers shelling out for a €600,000 bank loan?
The project still needs approval from the Court of Auditors who could reject the proposal as being poor value for money.
The mayor blames the opposition party for this delay and many others, recently calling a local election to sort out the balance of power in the Council chamber (HERE), but in one year the price went up €250,000 which can not all be attributed to a time delay when the inflation rate is under 2%. The Socialists say the mayor is lying and the additional cost is nothing to do with them.
The first tender anticipated that the work cost €320,000, but the contract signed earlier this month was for €768,000 so the opposition has listed other things that could be done to actually help local people, rather than changing rooms, toilets, a bar and car-parking at the side of a reservoir.
