Dredging at Faro's leisure dock started on Monday after years of delay but will only remove decades of silt and rubbish from half of the area.
The three month project will dredge the eastern side of the dock only, which is controlled by Docapesca, as the western half of the area is the responsibility of the Ginásio Clube Naval de Faro which holds the concession and presumably does not have the funds to have its area dredged.
The extortionate cost, rising from a reasonable €100,000 to €335,000 for no particular reason, at least will solve one of the major problems experienced by those using the dock area, i.e. the dock area is unusable for much of the time.
José Apolinário, Secretary of State for Fisheries, commented to Sul Informação, "This is an intervention that has not been done for more than 25 years. Although significant, this will not be a huge investment and will solve a long-standing problem.”
An estimated, 16,000 cubic meters of sediment will be removed from the 1.75 hectare site.
The Ministry of the Sea added that the pontoon used by fishermen also will be upgraded.
The reason this has taken decades is a multi-agency one as Docapesca, Faro Council, the Institute for Nature Conservation and Forestry, the Port Authority of Faro and the Clube Naval de Faro Gymnasium all had a say in the dredging project, as did the boat owners who will have to vacate the area.
Docapesca also wants to add some new floating walkways, another €30,000 but money well spent.
Dredging outside the dock is on hold as this work can only be done after an environmental impact study as this is in the Ria Formosa lagoon area, a protected area.
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