In an election year announcement, Albufeira council has confirmed it is to fund the construction of three more old people’s homes.
One will be built in Olhos d'Água, another in Fontainhas, Ferreiras and the third will be in Albufeira.
These vote-winning projects were pointed out as priorities by the Mayor of Albufeira in his New Year's speech, during which he took stock of the excellent work achieved in the last year done and announced new investments.
Other key projects include a new drainage plan, the construction of a GNR Headquarters for Olhos d'Água in partnership with the Ministry of Internal Administration and a new Headquarters for Albufeira’s doughty firefighters.
In Guia, the market will be expanded to include a new post office and the sports complex will be transformed into something called a ‘leisure and events plaza.’
In Ferreiras, the elderly can look forward to a new cemetery and the parish council will get a new headquarters in a property that includes five social housing apartments.
As for Albufeira, mayor Carlos Silva e Sousa announced that he is negotiating to acquire land near the current multipurpose area to create a new park to hold fairs and markets.
As council debt is down from €51 million to a more manageable €15 million due to long-term borrowings replacing short-term ones, urban regeneration is on the list with the renovation of facades in the Praça da República and other central areas of the city.
During 2017, €1 million will be invested in children's play areas, €6 million in fixing up roads and paths and more than €1.5 million on public lighting.
In total, Albufeira council will start works worth €48 million, possible “thanks to the success of the municipality's economic and financial recovery plan that has been carried out in recent years,” according to the mayor who is seeking re-election in the autumn of 2017.
The mayor’s mind drifted back to his election year when, "the municipality had a debt, loans and money owed to suppliers, of about €51 million." Three years later, the situation is quite different, since "the debt is around €15 million,” with about €55 million in the bank - an ideal amount with which to launch appealing projects for the elderly and the young while smartening up the city.
