The PSD president said this Monday that he still needs more data to assess whether the decision on high speed between Lisbon and Porto “really has to be made in January” on pain of losing community funding.
“If such a risk does not exist, it is desirable that the decision be sent to the next government, which will have all its decision-making powers in full,” said Luis Montenegro, answering questions from journalists at the entrance to the mass on the 43rd. anniversary of the death of PSD founder Francisco Sa Carneiro in the Basilica da Estrela in Lisbon.
On Friday, Prime Minister Antonio Costa announced his intention to launch the first tender for the construction of a high-speed line between Lisbon and Porto in January, if the PSD leader agrees.
“In January everything will be ready to launch the competition, but given the current political situation, the competition will only be announced if the future leader of the PS and the current leader of the PSD give the green light,” Antoniou said. Costa.
When asked about his readiness for such an understanding, Montenegro assured that “the PSD is ready to assess all the circumstances related to decision-making at a time when the government is preparing to take over.”
“But for that to happen, all the data needs to be available, and at this point I still don’t have the necessary information to conclude that a decision actually needs to be made in January or we’ll lose community funding. related to this work,” he said.
“I will wait until all these elements are handed over to us,” he said, assuring that he does not yet have any conversations planned with the prime minister.
The PSD president said the party is ready “not to postpone what is not good for the country, but also not to rush what the country can wait to make good and informed decisions.”
“The country demands from all of us a sense of responsibility to ensure that investments with financing of this scale are not lost due to political reasons,” he said, believing that if there is no risk of their loss, “it is best practice” that the decision is made by the executive branch, which leaves early legislative elections on March 10.
The Lisbon-Porto high-speed road project, with an estimated cost of around 4.5 billion euros, provides connections between the two cities in one hour and 15 minutes, with possible stops in Leiria, Coimbra, Aveiro and Gaia.
At the same time, depending on coordination with Spain, the Porto Vigo connection is also being developed with a new connection to Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport and the Braga-Valence section (Viana do Castelo area).
“I believe that this is a project agreed upon,” believes António Costa, arguing that the connection between the three cities “is the first step towards the inclusion of Portugal in the Iberian high-speed network” and strengthens the commitment and transition to the Railway.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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