The Scut replacement platform considers the publication by the President of the Republic of a diploma confirming the abolition of tolls on these old roads without any cost to the user as a “huge victory”.
“The platform stresses that this great victory would not have been possible without the support of the population, workers and businessmen, trade union leaders and delegates, many economic and social forces, many mayors and parties that voted in favour of the proposed law in the Assembly of the Republic,” the statement sent to the Lusa agency, a group that brings together several organisations from the Castelo Branco and Guarda districts, said.
The platform, however, warns that it expects “illegal and immoral pressure” to continue so that the Stingrays are not replaced, and warns that it will remain vigilant.
In the same note, the organization that brings together seven organizations from Beira Interior states that “there will be those who will try to argue that it is now necessary to include the liquidation in the state budget (OE) for 2025, an argument with which the members of the Platform do not agree”, adding that the inevitable costs should be included in the transfers to Infraestruturas de Portugal.
“If it is understood that the value will have to be registered in the OE, refusing to register it will be an undemocratic act on the part of the government, since it will thus be a violation of the law of the Republic,” he adds.
The platform emphasizes that the government “only has to apply the law and eliminate the unfairness of this tax, which was introduced in the region, which makes it less competitive.”
The Group stresses that the free user cut is the result of “an intense struggle waged separately and jointly” by the Platform’s member organisations for more than 13 years, and warned that it would continue to require the implementation of the Mobility Plan and the country’s hinterland development measures.
“The Inner Region needs a Mobility Plan that values and promotes rail transport of passengers and goods and combines it with public road transport, ending the shame of the most expensive travel card in the country – €120 per month,” advocates the Platform.
The conference “Interior and the Future: Free, Mobility, Environment, Investments” is announced for October 10.
The Assembly of the Republic approved as a whole in May the bill to abolish, as of 1 January, tolls on the A4 – Transmontana and Tunel do Marão, A13 and A13-1 – Pinhal Interior, A22 – Algarve, A23 – Beira Interior, A24 – Norte Interior, A25 – Beiras Litoral and Alta and A28 – Minho on the sections between Esposende and Antas and between Neiva and Darke.
The platform for the replacement of the ramps on the A23 and A25 motorways brings together seven organisations from the districts of Castelo Branco and Guarda: the Beira Baixa Business Association, the Castelo Branco Trade Union Union, the Users’ Commission against the A23 Toll, the Entrepreneurs’ Movement for the Sustenance of the Interior, the Guarda Region Business Association, the A25 Users’ Commission and the Guarda Trade Union Union.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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