Mayor plans "protest in the street" over state of EN125

Paul Rees 14 March 2018

EN125RoadSurface The mayor of Castro Marim is prepared to “take to the streets” along with a civic group, to complain about the state of the eastern section of the EN125.

Francisco Amaral was being interviewed about the degraded state of the EN125, which, “should shame any Portuguese citizen.”

The mayor is "tired and losing his patience" and plans to protest in the street to alert those responsible in government as to the state of one of the Algarve’s principal roads, between Olhão and Vila Real de Santo António.

"This is a road that serves the Algarve in general and is used by thousands of tourists throughout the year. I think we should all be ashamed about the state the EN125 is in,” said the mayor.

Amaral says that he has met the management of Infraestruturas de Portugal many times, both in Lisbon and in Faro, to try get a start time for the road upgrade. The "answer is always the same, the job is on hold because of the Court of Auditors, but this answer is wearing pretty thin."

The mayor says he has already suggested to the council that, in addition to putting pressure on the Court of Auditors, "I am considering involving the Civic Movement for the Defence of the EN125, and that we protest in the street. I am not very adept of this type of protest but I believe that this is the time to consider this action because in our country what does not appear on the television does not gain any visibility."

Francisco Amaral said to local media service, Algarve Primeiro, that the state of the road is scandalous, “We all know that courts have their own timings and their very own way of acting and this we all respect,” adding that the government could get things moving if it wanted to.

Comments

0 #5 Ed 2018-03-16 08:10

Quoting Peter Booker:

"The fact that the 2018 State Budget has no provision for these road works suggests the Minister is being economical with the truth."

You are famous for your plain speaking, Ed. Do you mean that the Minister lied?

The government pledged to spend €250 million to upgrade the EN125 across the Algarve region in return for the mayors’ silence over the imposition of tolls in 2012.

This has not happened and the whole programme has been politicised to keep the Algarve in its box.

There has been a series of lies related to this non-programme, not least the PM's solemn pledge to scrap the tolls and the Minister blaming the 6-year delay on the Court of Auditors.

+1 #4 Peter Booker 2018-03-16 07:54

"The fact that the 2018 State Budget has no provision for these road works suggests the Minister is being economical with the truth."

You are famous for your plain speaking, Ed. Do you mean that the Minister lied?

+1 #3 Ed 2018-03-15 07:51

Quoting Denby:

I can't understand what the court has to do with the roads,. I thought that the central government have a nation wide budget for roads and infrastructure and that this could be allocated to the areas that are in most need.

Government spending has to go through the Court of Auditors to check value for money, etc... It is "the supreme body which examines the legality of public expenditure and rules on the accounts which the law has ordered to be submitted to the Court." The fact that the 2018 State Budget has no provision for these road works suggests the Minister is being economical with the truth.

+2 #2 Denby 2018-03-14 23:36

I can't understand what the court has to do with the roads,. I thought that the central government have a nation wide budget for roads and infrastructure and that this could be allocated to the areas that are in most need.

+1 #1 mj1 2018-03-14 19:21

getting anything done here...like hitting your head against a sponge

Refresh comments list

You must be a registered user to make comments.
Please register here to post your comments.

JComments