Marcelo opens door to “contractual revision” for public tenders
President of the Republic Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has seized the moment today to call for a debate on seismic protection in the ‘construction of major public works’.
Speaking to journalists after a meeting with acting prime minister Paulo Rangel at Belém Palace in Lisbon, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said that after taking stock of the effects of this morning’s earthquake, a debate should follow “on the construction of public works” as it is possible to “learn more” in responding to these phenomena.
Marcelo referred to a recent decision by the Court of Auditors (TdC) which proposed “a contractual amendment, or a contractual revision, to include requirements that were not foreseen at the outset in the tender process” of public works.
The president admitted this was a decision that saw the court going “further than is normally” its role.
“In general there are precautions” for earthquake prevention, he stressed, but “there are still processes that started before, or longer ago, and have been postponed” in terms of seismic protection in public works.
There is a lot of unpack in that sentence.
The president then referred to a review last May of the management contract of the Lisbon and Tejo Valley Regional Health Administration, in which the Court of Auditors “forced the hospital to include an earthquake isolation solution in the design of the future Hospital de Lisboa Oriental.
The court’s wording was: “This Court of Auditors will grant the approval, but with a firm, incisive and solemn warning to the audited entity that it is obliged, in compliance with the principle of good administration and the principle of protecting the State’s financial interests, to also include in the project for the execution of the work the solution of a base isolation system’ against earthquakes.”
Marcelo also recalled the impact of the 1969 earthquake, emphasising that since then, “fortunately a lot has been learned” and a lot has been improved, but there is “always new learning, both in prevention and in shaping society”.
The President defended the importance of prevention actions in schools and public establishments, saying that “we probably need to extend what has been done to raise public awareness, starting with the youngest, of the fact that we are in a seismic area.
“It is a risk, which is not exactly what it was a few years ago, but it is a risk that exists”, he concluded.
Source material: LUSA
