The timeless delay in resurfacing and upgrading the Algarve’s EN125 road in the east of the region finally has driven those affected Councils to demand that the government does more than sit on its overpadded rear-end and commences the essential work.
Algarve Council chiefs are demanding that the government rescinds the contract with the concession holder, Rotas do Algarve Litoral, so that the State-owned body, Infraestruturas de Portugal, can fix the crumbling road.
This is 'the only solution now acceptable' to exasperated Councils after the Court of Auditors blocked the agreement between the State and the concession holder, which had served to halt all work between Olhão and Vila Real de Santo António.
The renegotiation of this Public Private Partnership has been suspended for a year after the Court stated that the agreement was not valid, followed by an inevitable appeal that added further delay.
The original Court ruling has been upheld and Tavira mayor Jorge Botelho stated that, "The next step, in our opinion, is to scrap the existing concession for the 50 kilometres that remain to be fixed between Olhão and Vila Real de Santo António, so that Infraestruturas de Portugal can finish the work.
"I have already asked for a meeting with the Minister, at which I will give our position.
“But for now, I still have not had any feedback, only at the meeting will we know what the Government's intention is," said Botelho, herading one of the Councils affected.
This is a mess as the Court’s decision means the concession holder is back to its original agremment, meaning that it is the company that must fix the road – something it already has stated that it has no intention of doing.
The alternative is to scrap the concession agreement and let the government take on the work, somethiung that Lisbon will be loathed to do as its infrastructure spending is focussed outside the Algarve - and always has been.
