The Socialist Party is concerned about the “opacity” in the Lisbon City Council regarding the Drainage Plan designed from the times of Fernando Medina. Having estimated that the works on the drainage plan have already exceeded the initially foreseen budget of 140 million euros by 20%, corresponding to an increase of around 30 million, the PS asked for additional clarification on the amount of public expenditure.
Despite perceiving “unpredictable situations” and being committed to ensuring the “stability” of works that are “positive for Lisbon”, Alexandra Leitão criticizes Carlos Moedas: “We voted in favor because we value the work, its importance, but we don’t know the minimum indicative deadline for the work”.
According to Alexandra Leitão, to DN, the work should be completed “in May 2025”. And the delay is strange because “the company that did the project is the same one that does the work.” He expands the criticism of the stance of the coalition led by Carlos Moedas: “There is opacity, a veil of opacity in all matters. And it is important to realize that councilors are part of the Executive and co-responsible for all decisions.”
On Wednesday, the PS had questioned the municipal executive led by Carlos Moedas, in an extraordinary meeting, about the financial evolution and deadline for completing the work on the Lisbon General Drainage Plan (PGDL), considering it necessary to “greater transparency in the management of a large public investment”. It was already known about the delay in the work, with the start of the second phase announced in 2025.
“In view of the lack of responses, the socialist councilors highlighted that they are fully aware of the strategic importance of the PGDL for the city, particularly in strengthening resilience in the face of extreme weather phenomena and preventing floods”, which is why they did not vote against the proposals.
In December 2020, under the presidency of the PS, the Lisbon City Council (CML) approved the award of the contract to the consortium “MEEC/SPIE – Túneis de Draenagem de Lisboa”, constituted by Mota-Engil, SA and Spie Batignolles International – Sucursal em Portugal, for the global amount of 140,874,000 euros (VAT included), with a contractual execution period of 1140 days, plus 365 days of maintenance of green spaces.
The contract, with the execution period 2016-2030, included the construction of two tunnels, namely Monsanto – Santa Apolónia and Chelas – Beato, to “solve around 80% of flooding problems” in the city.
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