The Lisbon Municipal Mobility and Parking Company (EMEL) on Friday declined to say whether it would respect the results of Sunday’s referendum in the Benfica district on expanding toll zones so as not to “influence the debate.”
In a response sent to Lusa, the company explained that it is part of the public business sector and is “particularly bound and committed to the duty of exemption established by the legal regime of the local referendum.”
“Unwilling, unable and unable to influence the debate and the election campaign in any way,” can be read in the response, refusing to speak on the issue before the referendum.
A local referendum is scheduled for Sunday in this district of Lisbon on the possibility of expanding the paid parking zones of the Municipal Mobility and Parking Company of Lisbon (EMEL).
The question will be asked: “Do you agree that the Benfica parish council is giving a positive opinion on the placement of parking meters in limited-time parking lots in Benfica?”.
Voters registered in the Benfica district will have to answer yes or no.
Lusa asked EMEL if the organization would respect the referendum’s decision if the “no” option was chosen to install parking meters, but the question remained unanswered.
On Thursday, the president of Benfica’s board pledged to respect the decision of Sunday’s referendum on the extension of paid parking in the district, which will be the first referendum in the city of Lisbon.
Despite the fact that the result of the referendum “has no binding force”, Ricardo Marquez recalled that it would be “very easy” for him to make a “special” decision about a certain place in a parish, street, square, quarter “. .
“But what I was going to do was move the problem to the next contiguous zone,” he explained.
The mayor added that he currently has two petitions pending in the Municipal Assembly, one for “yes” for EMEL to enter the restricted area, and the other for a ban on paid parking.
“On Sunday, if he wins, [a EMEL] will enter zone 9F. If the result is negative, (…) the position of the board is not to introduce more zones at Benfica, he stressed.
Ricardo Márquez also warned that parishes that are “residential residences” such as Benfica, “the country’s sixth most densely populated area”, which lacks parking, need “more investment from the municipality” in this area. “.
“We cannot remain hostages of this logic, according to which EMEL is engaged in parking, because it is a company and, therefore, it makes sense to generate income. There should be municipal investment in the creation of deep parking lots or bunkers, as is the case in other areas of the city. “, he stressed.
Polling stations will be located in Pedro de Santarém schools; Jorge Barradas; Quinta de Morocco; Jose Salvado Sampaio; Architect Gonzalo Ribeiro Telles where people usually vote and residents can find out where to vote by sending a free SMS to 3838 (by writing: Identification number RE or CC Date of birth in the form YYYYMMDD).
EMEL manages and regulates parking in Lisbon, both on public roads organized by zones – with limited time parking, and in parks, which can be above ground, underground or in bunkers, and also manages GIRA shared bikes.
EMEL currently manages 37 parks in Lisbon, some of which are exclusively for residents and merchants, others are exclusively for rotation, and still others are for monthly subscriptions.
The city of Lisbon is also divided into limited duration parking zones (ZEDL) and the one targeted for the Sunday referendum is marked on the map as 9F.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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