PAN was the only party to oppose the government’s decision on Tuesday to build a new Lisbon airport in Alcochete, but BE, PCP and Livre want clarity on possible compensation to ANA.
These positions were submitted to parliament shortly after Prime Minister Luis Montenegro announced that the government had approved the construction of a new airport in the Lisbon region in Alcochete, on the recommendation of the Independent Technical Commission (CTI).
“This decision proves that voting for PS or PSD is the same thing. We are faced with a decision of the Central Bloc that is purely political,” said PAN deputy Ines de Souza Real, who reviewed the reports that served as the basis for the Commission. to be “clearly outdated” to identify Alcochete as the best solution for the future of Lisbon airport.
“It makes no sense to talk about a medium-term solution, since the quality of life and the quality of the environment are not taken into account. We can’t have decisions of this magnitude that would seriously impact one of the country’s largest freshwater basins,” he explained.
As for the parties supporting the government, PSD and SDS-PP, the two parliamentary leaders, Hugo Soares and Paulo Nuncio, respectively, called the government’s decision to build a new airport, along with a third Tagus crossing and a high-speed rail link to Madrid, “historic”.
Hugo Soares noted that the PSD was the initiator of the decision, which is now being implemented, even when it was against it, having agreed with the leader António Costa on the methodology for choosing the location. But he also stressed that this was not the decision of the then Minister of Infrastructure and current PS Secretary General Pedro Nuno Santos.
“Pedro Nuno Santos wanted to build an airport first in Montijo and then, at the end of the line, in Alcochete. An unthinkable decision. It was a big and French decision,” he commented, before Paulo Nuncio emphasized that the PSD/CDS-PP decision shows “a government that governs.”
Chegi President André Ventura held the PS responsible for the years-long impasse over the construction of the new airport, praising the government for its intention to name the new airport infrastructure after Luis de Camões, but criticizing the prime minister for failing to provide any details on how why you chose Alcochete and why you ruled out other options.
“Why will the first runway be built in just 13 years? How much more will be spent on this solution? What is the construction timeline? Well, none of this has been explained,” he noted.
Andre Ventura even stated that CTI was suspected of giving Alcochete a benefit because of the location of the new airport, and that “the government did not explain why it chose this location.”
Bloc de Esquerda coordinator Mariana Mortagua believes that the Alcochete option is long overdue because it is “the most obvious and agreed upon.” After that, he expressed doubt that Luis Montenegro’s leader was overseeing this process.
“The main question is to find out what analogues, what conditions were promised to the transnational company Vinci, which owns ANA Aeroportos de Portugal.
Mariana Mortagua recalled the opposition that the already privatized ANA had to Alcochete’s decision, and that this company legally has authority in matters relating to the construction of the new airport.
“What compensation and under what conditions will ANA be provided? Will the third crossing of the Tagus be a PPP (public-private partnership)? Portugal cannot continue to be tied to the millionaire multinationals that have drained public coffers. We want clarification,” he said. emphasized.
On the PCP side, MP António Filipe stressed that the PCP has defended the “Alcochete solution” for years, building the third crossing of the Tagus and the TGV connection to Madrid, and that it has always opposed the Portela+ decision. 1 from Montijo.
But António Filipe saw the prime minister’s statements as a “worrying” sign when he pledged priority to the expansion of the current Humberto Delgado airport in Portela.
“These expansion works cannot mean that work on the construction of Alcochete airport will be delayed,” he warned.
Livre spokesman Tui Tavares said he agreed with Alcochete’s decision to build a new airport, but left a warning that the land that would later become vacant in Portela in Lisbon should not be used for speculation, but to contribute to a solution to the problem. housing crisis and energy transition.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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