The parliamentary Left Block has proposed a draft resolution demanding an end to the tolls on the Algarve’s formerly free A22 motorway.
Therefore parliament will be discussing the controversial topic on Wednesday, along with the upgrading of the EN125 and upgrade work on the Algarve’s railway line.
Included on the agenda of a regular meeting of the Parliamentary Commission for the Economy and Public Works, the draft resolution calls for the suspension of tolls as the Left Bloc claims the system has “dragged mobility in the Algarve back 20 years.”
The Bloquistas are urging the Government to "proceed to the immediate suspension of tolls on the Via do Infante" and evaluate the "economic and social costs of its implementation", that "recognizes the redevelopment of EN125 as a priority investment" and "the electrification and modernisation of the railway line as a priority investment, crucial for the region."
In the text setting forth its arguments to the Government to justify the Left Bloc’s recommendations , the resolution states that "the Algarve does not have an integrated regional mobility system to support growth and support the regional economy, whose contribution to tourism and national wealth has been, according to the party, "despised."
The Left considers that "mobility has regressed about 20 years as a result of the introduction of tolls on the Via do Infante, the non-renewal of EN125 and the inadequate railway system," and remind us that the government rather conveniently dropped its commitment to upgrade the EN125 as promised when it was introducing tolls and wanted to get the local mayors on side, and there has been a worsening of the accident rate as a result.
This party also pointed to the 50% reduction in traffic on the Via do Infante and the losses incurred by the concession holder, supported by the unwitting taxpayer through subsidy payments.
The Secretary of State for Transport, Sérgio Monteiro, has also been criticised by the Left Bloc as he said in a meeting in Faro that ‘if we finish the EN125 faster, there will be no money for the railroad."
This blackmail was based on an incorrect assumption and was an example of more bullying tactics from Lisbon.
“An end of tolls and the upgrading of the eternally postponed EN125 cannot stop investment in the railway. It is urgent to complete the electrification and modernisation of the railway line in the Algarve due to the new route planned to link with Faro airport and another to link up with the commercial docks in Faro.
These are all valid points and this topic has been discussed before in parliament with zero affect.
The government has made a large financial mistake in granting a license for the concession holder to print money and is not prepared to account for it in an open, inclusive way.
To do so would bring ridicule and the accusation that any sane minister would never have signed the agreement unless coerced or financially induced to do so.
