Having manifestly failed to take the advice of the regional hydrographical board in the past, Albufeira council now is to employ the good offices of Professor José Saldanha Matos from the Higher Technical Institute in Lisbon.
The task for the Professor is to sort out the botched flood management scheme introduced by former Albufeira mayor Desidério Silva.
Desidério Silva’s deliberate disregard of the regional hydrographical board's recommendations, and the skipping of the normal licensing procedures, led to the construction of an expensive new flood prevention scheme that when tested in anger led to 1.8 metres of water cascading into Albufeira’s key shopping and bar area causing between €20 million and €25 million's worth of damage.
The current Albufeira mayor is keen to sort out the problem left by his predecessor and, swallowing hard, has set a provisional budget of €12 to €15 million for a new flood water drainage plan and system.
Mayor Carlos Silva e Sousa said the man with the plan, José Saldanha Matos, has extensive experience in flood water management systems having worked on similar plans, including one for Lisbon's council.
The National Laboratory of Civil Engineering also will be involved in the design and specification of a new system for Albufeira for, as the mayor sensibly has recognised, when it comes to flooding “it can happen tomorrow or the day after tomorrow."
Carlos Silva e Sousa concluded that floods in Albufeira are "an issue that concerns us all and we have to make serious efforts so they do not happen again."
Former mayor Desidério Silva, whose failure to follow planning rules when building his flood diversion scheme, remains silent on the topic.
To see the result of Silva's botched job, see: https://www.facebook.com/skynews/videos/1200494519965143/?theater
