The petition raised by the Algarve Without Tolls organisation has been rejected by the government and will not be debated in parliament.
The 6,500 signature petition against the continuation of tolls on the Via do Infante motorway was kicked out by the parliamentary commission for Economic and Public Works on the grounds that a case "has already been debated following the exercise of the right of petition."
The recently created movement said that its fight will continue using more radical methods.
The movement held a press conference to state that the rejection of its petition reveals a 'clear contempt not only for the Algarve, but for all those who in one way or another have voiced their opinion against tolls on the Via do Infante.'
The movement admits ‘it is true that the tolls on the Via do Infante already has been the subject of a petition in June 2013,’ but states that 'the current petition was based not on the pessimistic forecasts of the adverse effects on the lives and on the Algarve's economy, but on the daily reality of those in the region and demonstrated the costs to the region of the tolls on the Via do Infante.'
For the group, tolls ‘jeopardise already weakened businesses in the region, destroying jobs and harming many other business areas and also has social costs resulting from traffic diverting to the notorious 'road of death,' the EN125 which has cost too many lives and which is not, has never been, and never will be an alternative to the Via do Infante.’
