Algarve Left Bloc MP João Vasconcelos has demanded some answers of the Minister of the Environment about a fake ruin built only so as to obtain planning permission for a house in a Natural Ecological Reserve area.
Vasconcelos has questioned the minister, João Matos Fernandes, asking him to act "with the urgency that the situation requires" and what measures he will take safeguard and defend the public interest.
According to a the complaint received by Vasconcelos, the ruin is located in the municipality of Faro and is nothing more than stones lying directly on the ground without any type of foundations or flooring.
This artfully constructed ruin was put up in 2012 on a site where there is no evidence of a construction on any paperwork, nor is there any image on Google Earth.
Also according to the person who complained, the owner of the land obtained legalisation for the fake ruin at Finanças in 2014 with the use of a statement from Faro council which was used at the Conservatória in Olhão to legalise the ruin as a legitimate property.
Where previously "scrub land with trees," had been listed, "scrub land with trees and a ruin" mysteriously appeared.
Next, the parish union of Conceição and Estoi issued a certificate in August 2014, which stated that the land in question "has a ruin built on a date prior to the publication of the General Administration of Building and Urban Development, 7th August 1951."
Then a request was made to the CCDR-Algarve to "alter and expand the old house into a cottage with a swimming pool."
"In this way, the property in question, now falsely legalised in an area of the National Ecological Reserve, saw a substantial increase in its value," says João Vasconcelos, adding that this situation is particularly serious and must be investigated with the utmost urgency, “whatever the cost and no matter who gets hurt.”
The plot, with ruin listed, then went on the market for €200,000. The owner of the land is well known for this sort of dodge. Whether public officials are involved in this lucrative and illegal process remains to be investigated.
The fake ruin now has been confirmed as being put there only to obtain planning advantage and the Protection Service of Nature and the Environment (SEPNA), a division of the GNR is now investigating with a view to prosecution.
