President Chegi on Saturday said the rise of almost 80% of Portugal’s homeless population was “a sign of broken promises” by the government and the President of the Republic.
This Saturday Andre Ventura toured areas near Almirante Reisa in Lisbon, setting up tents around the Church of the Angels and in nearby streets, following the news that there are 10,773 homeless people in Portugal, up from 6,044 in 2018. 78% in four years.
On the same day that the leaders of the PCP and BE were present in Lisbon at a demonstration of the Vida Justa movement in protest demanding decent living conditions, the leader of Chegi believed that today “it is important that all parliamentary parties raise the housing issue on the political agenda.”
“We decided to highlight this issue after learning in recent days about the increase in homelessness. This is one of the signs of unfulfilled promises by the government of António Costa, and also, unfortunately, by the President of the Republic,” he accused, recalling that in 2019 Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa set the goal of ending homelessness by 2023.
Ventura argued that the parties must admit their failure (he also admitted his guilt for not including the issue in either the program or the previous election campaign), and argued that there were two ways to solve the problem: through new housing policies and strengthening immigration controls.
“We are taking in far more immigrants than we can handle – a lot of new homeless people are coming from the immigration segment – we are allowing people to come, but we don’t have housing solutions,” he said, saying Portugal has “the lowest level of public supply.” “housing in Europe.
Ventura held the government responsible for these failures and complained that the left “prefers to attack those who invest in Portugal, landlords and local housing” and also criticized right-wing parties.
“There are those on the right who choose not to engage in this debate and stay at home today, there are others who take to the streets and say that they have different solutions than those that the left wants to present,” he said, defending above all .. more housing development and less bureaucracy in licensing, in addition to “managed immigration”.
After speaking with reporters, Ventura greeted some of the homeless people outside the tents: some said they had been on the streets for weeks, others for months and others for more than five years.
Increased income, loss of work or illness were the most common excuses reported by the people whom the Chega leader met, accompanied by deputies and mayors elected by Lisbon.
Some people who passed the Chega delegation on the street shouted “fascists”, others decided to stop by to greet Andre Ventura, and some of the homeless thanked him for his visit.
“I really enjoyed meeting you,” said the woman, who said she moved into a tent next to the Church of Angels two weeks ago.