By Tiago Prata news@algarveresident.com
The Via do Infante (A22) Users’ Comission (CUVI) marked the first anniversary of the A22 tolls, on December 8, with a lunch-debate near Quatro Estradas (EN125), attended by over 70 people, and a protest march at idling speed, in which about 100 vehicles participated.
In an exclusive interview with the Algarve Resident last week, João Vasconcelos, a member of the CUVI and the face of the fight against the tolls in the region, said the commission was “working to turn this day into an epic fight against the destruction of the Algarve by calling for the suspension of the tolls”.
The CUVI invited all parliament members from the Algarve’s constituencies to the lunch-debate, but only Cecília Honório from Bloco de Esquerda (far-left party) showed up, with Paulo Sá from PCP (Communist Party) gracefully declining the invitation due to other commitments. Representatives from the PS, PSD and CDS parties did not respond to the invitation.
The CUVI believes that the situation “lies heavily on their conscience”, after Vasconcelos warned in his interview with the Algarve Resident that if rulers decided “to come to the region, they would be welcomed by the Algarvians in a manner that they deserve”.
The CUVI was also delighted at having several foreigners residing in the Algarve joining the lunch-debate as well as the protest march, which Vasconcelos believes “boosted and made more relevant the fight against the tolls”.
This did not come as a total surprise, however, as in his December 7 interview, he said that he knew “the foreign communities in the Algarve are on our side as they are also badly affected by the tolls”.
During the day, several other actions took place, such as the placement of memorial plaques at the location of a serious car crash, followed by a one-minute symbolic road block. However, after what the CUVI considered a violent intervention from the police authorities, “with several protesters being aggressively shoved”, the road was blocked for 10 minutes.
During the lunch-debate, the CUVI members approved unanimously, and with applause, a motion they now intend to deliver to the highest authorities in Portugal.
In the motion, to which the Algarve Resident had access, the CUVI states all the facts they believe surround the introduction of tolls on the A22, such as the highly negative economic impact for the region, loss of tourist competitiveness, an increase of mortality and casualties on the roads in the Algarve (see the back page of this edition and last week’s edition of the Algarve Resident for reports on EN125 car crashes), as well as violation of European laws.
The CUVI also details that after the introduction of the tolls, the quality of life of people in the Algarve has deteriorated, with the alternative road (EN125) being in a terrible condition (and several intended works to improve the road now stopped), while the population is unable to freely use a road that was intended to help social and economic development in the Algarve.
The traffic on the A22 has decreased by 50% since the tolls were introduced, and the CUVI believes the tolls have “brought major losses to road users, companies and the people living and working in the Algarve”.
Therefore, they intend to deliver their motion against the A22 tolls to the Prime Minister, the President of the Republic, Parliament, the Minister of Public Works and several other Algarve public entities.
The motion’s main points are to introduce an official sanction against the introduction of tolls on the A22, to formally request that the government suspends the tolls and presents the promised impact report, to ask for a meeting with the Minister of Economy, and to ask all public entities in the Algarve to unite and form a bigger and stronger social platform to fight for the end of the tolls on the A22.
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