Prime Minister Luís Montenegro said this Tuesday that shanty towns and makeshift housing estates have been re-emerging mainly in Socialist and Communist-led municipalities, insisting that Social Democrat (PSD) mayors “do not just stand by” in the face of the problem. Commentators have alleged the PM’s accusations of feeding an anti-migrant sentiment.
These declarations come just a few weeks before the municipal elections, to be held on 12th October. “These candidacies we present are not from those who simply stand and watch the rebirth of shanty town clusters. We should have no problem calling things by their name: shanty towns, slums,” Montenegro told a lunch gathering of all PSD mayors in the Lisbon district.
The PSD leader stressed that such housing had once been “eradicated by a government with the same ideological inspiration,” referring to the administrations of former prime minister Cavaco Silva. He claimed that shanty towns have been slowly resurfacing, “here and there, on one side of the river and the other, particularly in municipalities governed by the Socialist Party and the Communist Party.”
“It is very striking to observe that this new resurgence of shanty towns has happened in councils run by the Socialist and Communist parties,” he argued.
Montenegro went on to defend the Government’s recent housing measures, noting that tax incentives for new rental construction apply to rents “from €400 up to €2,300.” He underlined that in many Lisbon-area municipalities, residents are unable to afford the high market rents.
“We are often talking about the very people we then rely upon for our public services. Yes, I mean police officers, yes, teachers, yes, doctors, yes, nurses,” he said, warning that if such professionals cannot secure housing in major cities, “we cannot then demand rapid and efficient public services.”
The Prime Minister insisted that his Government is “acting from A to Z” to ensure effectiveness across the country and called on local mayors to help explain and promote these measures.
