Finally, Parliament has found time to approve the resolution to connection the agricultural water supply from the Funcho reservoir, to the delight of local Silves farmers.
The Algarve MP, Cristóvão Norte, petitioned the government to authorise the connection of the much needed water supply.
The € 6.5 million project, funded by the European Union and the State budget, was completed in 2016 and just needed the final connection to be turned on to enable water and energy savings for more than 700 Silves farmers.
"It is unbelievable that €6.5 million has been invested and it is not serving anyone," said the PSD Algarve in a statement today.
The new water connection also will increase the irrigation zone from 800 to 1,200 hectares and will ensure better conditions for traditional crops such as citrus fruit. Farmers now can expand their production range and finalise investment plans that have been on hold due to a lack of water.
Before the water connection was authorised, the PSD Algarve said that "it is not enough to proclaim the importance of boosting this primary agricultural sector and diversifying the productive base of the region, it is necessary actually to do something," emphasizing that the situation as it stood, was "a worthless and shameful state investment."
