The Municipal Council of Mértola and Águas do Algarve celebrate protocol. The Municipality states that it is important to remember that the Mértola City Council, lamentably, was not involved in the project “Water intake in Pomarão” and its implications from the beginning.
The absence of prior information about such a project, that directly impacts the lives of local communities, generated great concern and mobilization by the municipality. Before this scenario, The municipality established three fundamental assumptions: equitable access to drinking water under decent and fair conditions, eliminating existing inequalities towards the parish of Espirito Santo; Revision of the location of the capture tower and improvement of the Guadiana River navigability conditions, something so necessary for the environmental promotion and recovery of the Guadiana River ecosystem.
With the signing of this protocol, Mértola City Council reaches a significant victory, Ensuring access to drinking water to the localities of Mesquita and Espírito Santo and paving the way for the supply of other locations and to resolve the other two questions. In relation to relocation, for now, A careful assessment that minimizes environmental impacts was safeguarded, social and urbanistic of this infrastructure, in relation to navigability it was possible to register funds to surround the 3 Millions € for this purpose in the reprogramming of the PRR, If there is the possibility of reaching the 10 Million in a future phase. This is transmitted by Mrs.. Minister of Environment and Energy during the inauguration of the Water Pavilion - Environmental Exhibition in Faro.
Minister Maria da Graça Carvalho, present at the ceremony, He highlighted the importance of this agreement to ensure “definitive solutions for access to water for human consumption to populations and the need to recover the banks of Guadiana with the objective of“ Renatura the river ”.
The signing of the document, which was attended by the Board of Directors of the Water of Alentejo, of the Minister of Environment and Energy, Maria da Graça Carvalho, of the president of CCDR Algarve, Jose Apolinario, of the Mayor of Faro, Rogério Bacalhau, that arh algarve, of the President of the Parish Council of Espírito Santo, Luís Caetano, among other personalities, marks an important milestone for these locations that had been struggling for years with the scarcity of access to drinking water. Thanks to this agreement, the populations of the parish of Espírito Santo, that so far depended on precarious solutions such as holes artesian and autothanch, will finally have access to a public water supply system, efficient and safe.
Mario Thomas, Mayor of Mértola, showed his satisfaction with this crucial moment for the county: “This is a historic day for Mértola. Fruit of these negotiations we are taking a decisive step to ensure the quality of life of our populations and the development of our county. We were able to solve a problem with decades, giving dignity to the populations of the parish of Espirito Santo and with a real perspective of solution for the navigability of the Guadiana River to Mértola!"
In another scope, but related to the same theme, President Mário Tomé, He took advantage of the occasion to deliver to Minister Maria da Graça Carvalho the contributions of the municipality of Mértola to the National Water Plan Revision 2025-2035, also transmitting to him his public thanks for his commitment to solve the problems of the municipality of Mértola.
Source: Municipality of Mértola
