Docapesca is having to carry out urgent safety work on the wall of the former commercial port at Vila Real de Santo António, before it collapses.
The wall, "has been deteriorating rapidly, endangering people and equipment," stated the government agency that controls the nation’s commercial dock areas.
The repairs were meant to be carried out as part of a deal with Mount Pleasant Investments Ltd which had been granted permission to develop the riverside area.
The deal involved the company being granted a 75-year concession for a six hectare parcel of public domain land, between the marina and the fishing port, that would be transformed into an area containing "a 300-bed hotel, a clinic and a green zone," according to original prospectus that was endorsed by the Minister for the Sea in late 2016.
This €200 million ‘investment’ was not started and the dock did not get repaired, "for reasons attributable to the developer," says Docapesca which finally pulled the plug on the agreement in August this year due to the non-participation of the development company.
Docapesca has decided to fix the dangerous wall because it does not have the luxury of time to wait for another deal to be proposed.
It is unclear as to which Mount Pleasant Investments Ltd the deal was with. One is offshore and noted in the Panama Papers, (HERE) the other is in the UK and shows that in March 2016 it had capital of £115,100 and listed James Golding and Harvey Golding as directors, both from Loughton in Essex..
The Farringdon Road address listed for Mount Pleasant Investments Ltd also is the registered address for over 100 Limited companies.
The deal involved the developers paying an initial €5.6 million to carry out the wall and pavement work as well paying a fixed annual amount of €60,000 and ‘a variable annual value of 2% of the amount of rent invoiced and (or) 0.2% of the volume of promoter's business in the case of direct management,’ according to the agreement. None of this has happened.
Docapesca realises that the developer is not going to carry out its part of the deal and so agrees that, “we will have to find another solution together with the city council. We do not make decisions without talking to the municipalities. And if that's the case, I'm convinced we'll find another solution."
In the meantime, Docapesca is going to have to fix the wall before it falls into the river.
See also: 'New VRSA waterfront hotel deal with mystery 'British company'' (Dec 2016)
Photo: Jornal do Algarve
