Faro court has failed to conclude a court action against a former mayor of Olhão, Francisco Leal, as there are still grey areas.Francisco Leal and the former head of the Urban Management, architect Ditza Reis, were accused by the Public Prosecutor's Office of the crime of malfeasance related to the licensing of the "Marina Village of Olhão" project, promoted by Construções Largaça.
"This filing order proved unequivocally that there was no crime on the part of either engineer Francisco Leal or Ditza Reis. The name and honour of a man who gave Olhão so much and, as mayor of the City Hall, paved the way for the progress of the county," said the current mayor of Olhão, António Pina.
The mayor added that this, like other cases that have been "filed for lack of evidence of verification of any crime," are the result "of unsubstantiated denunciations, which only intend to denigrate the image of the workers of the municipality and their local authorities.”
The case has not been filed, despite the current mayor's gleeful assurances, but has 'not been pronounced' which means it can be reopened at any time should fresh and comprehensible evidence be supplied.
In a separate action bought by two Olhão residents at the Administrative and Fiscal Court of Loulé, the court agreed that year’s of water and sewage tariff increases indeed has been illegally set and the rates should revert to those charged in 2012.
The court stopped short of instructing the council-owned water company to refund the illegally raised funds whcih, if it did, would leave to AmbiOlhão's insolvency.
