Francisco Amaral, mayor of Castro Marim, is thinking of asking Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa to help pressure the government into finally moving forward with renovations on the rundown eastern section of the EN125, which he considers an “embarrassment”.
It would be a last-ditch move for Amaral who says he is “tired” and “losing patience” with the government’s inertia.
“This is a road that serves all Algarveans and is used by thousands of tourists all year long. I think we should be ashamed of the state the EN125 is in,” he told online newspaper Algarve Primeiro.
Amaral says that he has met with national infrastructure authority Infraestruturas de Portugal several times in Lisbon and Faro, but the answer is always the same.
“They say the case is ‘stuck’ in the Court of Auditors, but this response is getting tiring,” he said.
“We all know that courts have their own timings and their very own way of acting and we respect that,” the mayor said, adding however that the government cannot keep treating this matter like a hot potato.
He is so desperate for action that, even though he is not a “big fan of these kinds of demonstrations,” he is thinking about taking to the streets for a protest alongside the borough of Vila Real de Santo António and the Movimento Cívico para a Defesa da EN125 group.
As he explained: “What does not appear on TV in our country does not get any visibility.”
His plan to ask President Marcelo for help also fits this idea.
“Who knows if Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa can help us call attention to that which is in front of everyone’s eyes, but which never gets fixed,” he said.
Readers may recall that renovations on the western section of the EN125 between Vila do Bispo and Olhão were finally completed at the start of this year. But despite many demands that similar work be carried out on the rundown stretch of the same road between Olhão and Vila Real de Santo António, the renovations are still on the backburner.
“The Sotavento (Eastern Algarve) has always taken a back seat in these matters, which is a mistake as many Portuguese seek foreign destinations when this side of the Algarve has natural elements that are superior to many other locations,” he said.
“We deserve to have conditions to attract more investment in this crucial part of the region”.
michael.bruxo@algarveresident.com
