What conclusions will the Independent Technical Commission (CTI) present in the report?
CTI will publish next Tuesday the 5th the preliminary report of the strategic and multidisciplinary analysis of the increase in airport capacity in the Lisbon region. The presentation will take place from 3:00 PM at the facilities of the National Civil Engineering Laboratory (LNEC), during the third CTI conference. The document will be the result of the conclusions of the work carried out over the past year by the group led by Maria do Rosário Partidário. It will evaluate the nine strategic options analyzed for the future airport in the Lisbon region. Taking into account the strategic assessment framework, taking into account the critical decision factors, the best qualified options for a new airport will be presented for each of the defined criteria.
How many options will be evaluated?
There are nine strategic options on the table: the first five present in the Council of Ministers Resolution (Montijo+Portela, Portela+Montijo, Campo de Tiro de Alcochete, Portela+Santarém and Santarém) and four more added by the CTI (CT de Alcochete+Portela, Portela+Vendas Novas, Vendas Novas en Rio Frio+Poceirão). In an interview with Dinheiro Vivo last Saturday, the chairman of the Monitoring Commission, Carlos Mineiro Aires, admitted that not all options could reach the final assessment in this report. “Based on my sensitivity, there are solutions that may fail naturally (…). I am not surprised that the interest in a location in Rio Frio could have serious consequences and that the CTI has decided to reconsider this as well. like Poceirão himself,” he said. However, the five options defined by the government must be evaluated.
Will this be the final report?
This is the preliminary report that, once presented, will go out for public consultation and only then will the final document be drafted. Last year, CTI presented three reports based on the work carried out. The first document, published in April, referred to the results achieved in identifying and screening strategic options. The second report, released in July, presented the critical decision factors that served to screen the nine strategic options defined in the first phase of work. More recently, in October, the short-term analysis report was released, which listed measures to improve operations at Humberto Delgado Airport. The purpose of the CTI was to list short-term measures that resulted “from an analysis of limitations and operational problems in the operation of the Humberto Delgado Airport (AHD)” and “which can be resolved with actions to improve operational management , without or with low investment costs”.
What happens now?
From today, the preliminary report will be subject to public consultation for a period of 30 days. At the end of this period, the CTI, “evaluating the rationality, merit, opportunities and technical relevance of each of these contributions, in the light of the critical factors for the decision”, will prepare the final report, which will fulfill the mandate given to it is completed. . The final document should be ready between January and February next year.
How much did the Strategic Environmental Impact Assessment (SEA) cost?
CTI’s work costs 2.5 million euros. LNEC was responsible for managing the funds to finance the report on a new airport in the Lisbon region. The public institution was responsible for managing the budgetary costs arising from the establishment and operation of the CTI and the Monitoring Committee. In addition to preparing the SEA, LNEC also had to guarantee the logistical and administrative support, as well as the acquisitions and contracts necessary for the evaluation. The multi-year budget allocated to LNEC was fully transferred from the Mobility and Transport Institute (IMT), which had received the green light from the government in July 2021 to shoulder the burden of the international tender for the acquisition of services intended for the development of AAE to expand airport capacity. expand the Lisbon region. The winning consortium, consisting of Coba and the Spanish company Ineco, presented the best proposal at the time, worth 1,999,980 euros. The trial caused controversy and accusations of conflict of interest. The government eventually stopped the competition.
What criteria were taken into account in the evaluation?
Aviation safety, accessibility and territory, human health and environmental viability, connectivity and economic development, and the public investment and financing model are the critical decision factors that form part of the strategic assessment framework.
Will the future government act on the report?
The dossier for the future airport in the Lisbon region, as well as TAP’s privatization portfolio, will be put on hold until a new government takes office next year. Only after March 10 will it be known what the new Executive’s plans are for these two topics. The work of the CTI resulted from an agreement between the PS and the largest opposition party, PSD. For this reason, the President of the CA, Carlos Mineiro Aires, has already shown optimism about the implementation of the work. “It is unthinkable that after these investments and efforts, all that research would be useless. (…) It would be absolutely regrettable, regardless of what happens on March 10. It was a denial of the country’s interests and the political party alignments of the two largest parties. It would be even more discreditable. I think there may be a pause or delay in the decision, but it is unthinkable that this will be lost,” he told Dinheiro Vivo.
Rute Simão is a journalist for Dinheiro Vivo
Source: DN
