Porto City Council wants to buy 23 houses in Fontaine affected by floods

The Chamber of Porto wants to buy 23 houses on the island of Moinhos, on the Fonteñas escarpment, which were hit by floods on Saturday and is currently negotiating with the owners, President Lusa said on Wednesday.

In an interview with the Lusa agency, the mayor of Porto, the independent Rui Moreira, said that 23 owners of houses on the island were installed (a typical type of housing in Porto in the 19th century, consisting of small houses, space shared with each other, divided or surrounded by an access corridor to the road public), located on the Fontanhas escarpment.

“This is an area that we consider at risk, and we are currently starting negotiations with the owners in order to acquire houses and be able to intervene in the territories,” he said.

According to the mayor, on Tuesday, four houses on the island were identified by the municipal authorities and the civil protection service as being “at risk” and the families were relocated, with only one agreeing to be relocated by the social services, while the rest found shelter with members families. .

“This requires serious intervention,” Rui Moreira assured, saying that only by acquiring these plots, the municipality will be able to start “adequate intervention.”

Stressing that the houses “do not have minimum living conditions,” the independent mayor said he did not know “whether the place would be habitable” or what measures would be taken.

“We are evaluating the situation in Fontainas with both Aguas do Porto and the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP), but the fact that the territory becomes ours is crucial for our intervention,” he added. . . .

Regarding the reaction of residents to the intention of the municipality to buy these houses, Rui Moreira said that many people “do not want to leave”, which he considers natural.

“These are communities that have lived there for many years, some live in a sublease situation, and these are situations that we are all familiar with. This is not municipal land and we must also respect the will of the people,” he said. , saying that this population is “not forgotten”.

“There was no shortage of support from the chamber and the civil protection that has always been there,” he added.

The municipality of Porto registered 150 requests for assistance on Saturday in less than two hours due to the flooding of houses and public roads, mostly in the city center, a local civil protection source told Lusa.