Maria da Graça Carvalho, Minister of the Environment, stated this Tuesday, March 3, in Albufeira, that stabilizing the cliffs is a “super urgent” priority for the Government to guarantee safety on the coast, after the worsening of erosion due to recent storms.
The intervention on the cliffs is one of the “necessary and super urgent projects to guarantee the safety of those who visit the beaches, which is the most urgent part”, said Maria da Graça Carvalho, on the sidelines of a visit to beaches in the municipality of Albufeira, in the district of Faro.
The minister visited Maria Luísa and Peneco beaches, in Albufeira, to assess the damage caused by the storms that affected mainland Portugal between the end of January and the first weeks of February, revealing that the damage extends from Moledo, municipality of Caminha, district of Viana do Castelo, to Vila Real de Santo António, in the district of Faro.
However, he said, the Algarve is the region where “there are the most problems with the cliffs and the most complicated cases”, resulting from the sea storms, rain and strong winds that have hit the country in recent weeks.
Maria da Graça Carvalho revealed that the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA) is completing an inspection of the entire coast, and the necessary conclusions and projects will be presented “in eight days” by APA, in Porto.
During the visit, the minister heard the concerns of the mayor of Albufeira, Rui Cristina, about the intervention “to save the rock on the sand that gives its name to Peneco beach, where cracks were detected”.
According to the mayor, the rock “represents danger and could collapse at any moment”, and a security perimeter has been delimited to prevent people from approaching it.
“It’s something very symbolic, an emblematic rock that represents Albufeira. We will do everything to maintain it”, he assured, sending, however, to the APA and the National Civil Engineering Laboratory (LNEC) “a technical or constructive solution to safeguard it in the best way”.
The Minister of the Environment indicated that she will ask for help from LNEC to “support a decision” about what to do in relation to the rock, reinforcing that these complex interventions aim to “guarantee the safety” of those who visit the beaches.
Maria da Graça Carvalho said, on the other hand, that the Ministry of the Environment’s strategy is divided into three axes of intervention on the coast, with different degrees of speed: the safety of cliffs, recovery of beaches with sand filling and medium-term projects that require environmental impact studies.
Short-term projects include those to prepare for the summer season, such as stabilizing cliffs and filling small and medium-sized beaches with sand and repairing walkways.
“The objective is for these works to be completed before the start of the bathing season, using “fast and flexible” financing, added the official.
The structural projects foresee larger-scale interventions, which require environmental impact studies, and should only be ready for next year’s bathing season.
“We have to do it and it has to be done well”, reiterated the minister, noting that, although the Algarve presents the most complicated problems with regard to cliffs, APA’s monitoring “is continuous and systematic throughout the national territory”.
Also according to the minister, work to reinforce the sand on some of the “country’s most emblematic beaches” should progress between May and the beginning of June.
Leave a Reply