It was the Communist Party MPs today that demanded of the government some sort of explanation on the continued holdup with the roadworks on the Algarve’s EN125.
‘Resuming soon’ was meant to mean September 1st after the roadworks were suspended before the summer crowds descended in July. No work yet has restarted and a mysterious veil of silence has descended.
In a statement released today, the Portuguese Communist Party’s Parliamentary Group reported that is has requested clarification from the Minister of Planning and Infrastructure on the deadlines for the completion of the works covered by the Algarve Litoral contract, work that the government said should be completed soon.
Work on the EN125 resumed in 2014 after the renegotiation of the contract and then promptly stopped for two years and finally halted this July.
The group also wanted to know if the government would perhaps like to ask Infrastructure of Portugal "to proceed to the relaunch and rapid completion of all works originally planned for the EN 125," including bypasses and connecting roads that are not covered in the current contracts.
The Communists have a point as there was a successful resolution in March this year when parliament agreed to ‘The completion of the refurbishment works on the EN125,’ submitted in January 2017.
After several months, the Communists now want to see what actions have been taken as a result of the agreed plan.
A month ago, the Algarve Social Democrat MP Cristóvão Norte warned that subbies were not being paid and was highly critical of the extended delays.
MPs from the Communist and other parties can complain all they want, but the government is in no mood for explanations as it cuts expenditure and supplier payments in a covert policy to ensure the 2016 year-end national accounts are presentable to country’s international community of lenders.
It would be rather more grown up of the government to admit this, than to remain silent on the topic, but silence is becoming the expected response from the socialist administration when difficult questions are posed.
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