The Minister of Environment and Energy insisted this Thursday on the need to implement the planned investments to increase water supplies in the Algarve by 2026, avoiding losses in the funding already guaranteed by the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR).
Maria da Graça Carvalho appeared this Thursday at the Environment and Energy Committee of the Assembly of the Republic to talk about water and drought in the Algarve at the request of the PSD and stated that the investments financed by the PDP; such as the desalination plant or water harvesting in Pomaran are owned by the Portuguese and it is important to complete them within the given time frame.
The hottest moment of the session came from PS MP Luis Graça, who criticized the current chief executive and environment minister for traveling to the Algarve on Wednesday, in the midst of campaigning for the European elections, to open a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in Lagos, and for announcing investment in the region, which was inherited from the previous head of PS.
“And absent was the Minister of the Environment, who yesterday, four days before the European elections, believed that it was urgent and urgent, as the law says, to go to the Algarve to begin the reconstruction of the sewage treatment plant, an important project. costing 17 million euros, the PSD believes that the people of the Algarve will believe that this government designed, implemented and opened it in two months,” joked Luis Graça.
The Socialist MP believed that “the concept of the duty of neutrality and liberation” to which members of the government are obliged is “lost” and said that Maria da Graça Carvalho went to the Algarve region “to publicly declare that the priority is to carry out” works and projects. which the PS Government “left with the funding approved in the RDP.”
“The drought in the Algarve, as I have said here, will continue, it is structural,” warned Luis Graça, asking the minister “can she personally and politically ensure the availability of water in the Algarve dams and aquifers to support the announced increase in consumption by 20 cubic hectometers promised by the government as part of the easing of restrictions that were applied in the Algarve by the previous leader to combat drought.
Luis Graça said that “the government’s campaign performance went beyond the technical criteria” set by a government official and “listening to the Prime Minister, it seems that the end of the water problems in the Algarve is being announced.”
“This is a dangerous speech because, being propaganda, it can discourage savings, which has actually been the case in the Algarve, especially in human and urban consumption,” he added.
Maria da Graça de Carvalho, responding to opposition MPs, responded that what the AD government will do differently is to carry out investments that currently have a low level of execution and must be completed by 2026 to be able to use PRR funding.
“It is not worth having funding in the PDP and in the state budget that is not implemented,” says a government official, emphasizing that “implementation is important for the population” and stating that “there are no investments x, y from the government.” or z—Portuguese investment.”
The minister said it was therefore her mission to “make sure that this water flows into the Algarve and helps to carry it out as best as possible.”
Maria Graça de Carvalho also assured that the situation of easing restrictions adopted by the current government after the rains at the beginning of the year will not leave the region without water, since there will be “constant monitoring”.
“And if we have to change it, we will change it,” he assured.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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