The time is short and the task enormous: two committees made up of 31 personalities will spend the next 12 months trying to find an answer to a problem spanning five decades and reach a consensus on the best location for the future airport in the Lisbon region. The president of the Supreme Council of Public Works (CSOP), the ex-president of the Engineers, Carlos Mineiro Aires, who heads the oversight committee, points to the challenges.
“I must confess that I am worried about bureaucratic problems, especially in this country. The issue of public procurement eventually created some constraints when the Independent Technical Commission has to contract with lists, whether it is to carry out some studies or to reviewing and updating lists of studies that have been done, and all this is a path of storms that takes a lot of time.”
The engineer adds that talks are already underway with the government to find solutions and points out that this fear is no excuse for a possible delay in the calendar. “I’m not going to use public tenders as a justification for anything. Hiring is a storm for anyone who wants to get things done, with tight timings and deadlines. It’s hard. I’ve been working here for many years and I know how things work,” he says .
“I would very much like us to offer the country a solution by the end of next year and that it be the best possible. But the decision will always be political – let there be no doubt about that.”
The chairman of the committee overseeing the main working group is optimistic and believes that the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) report will be ready before December 31, 2023. of my career, to be able to say that I helped solve an important problem for my country. I would like us to come up with a solution that is the best possible for Portugal,” he reveals, underlining, however, that then “there are contractual relations with the current concessionaire, with costs and investments, with a series of things” and that this matter goes beyond the powers of the committees.
“The decision will always be political, I have no doubt about that, and anyone who thinks otherwise should understand it,” he insists. The CSOP president is not shy about discussing the five sites analyzed and prefers Alcochete, a position he has always defended as president of the Order of Engineers.
“Being the voice of engineers, I don’t think it’s cordial that he hasn’t publicly defended Alcochete’s solution. Engineers have a very important issue, which is ethics. Since July 1, when I was invited to become chairman of the CSOP “I sent myself completely into silence,” he justifies.
Carlos Mineiro Aires clarifies that the work that will be developed in the coming months will be transparent and independent. “The process is transparent. I have my ideas as an engineer, as a citizen – and of course I have them – but in this case I am limited to chairing a committee which will also have its own and each of those there will have a opinion. I am aware that it will be impossible to satisfy Greeks and Trojans, there will be some who will not see their point of view succeed and others will. All this will be done in a completely pure way, “he promises.
The committees have already met
The starting signal for the start of the work aimed at choosing the best location for the future airport in the Lisbon region has already been given. The first meeting, which brought together the 25 members of the Monitoring Commission and the coordinator of the Independent Technical Commission, Maria do Rosário Partidário, took place at the gates of Natal, on the 22nd, after being moved due to the floods that hit Lisbon in December. The leader of the Monitoring Commission commends the choice of personalities who form the working groups. “In addition to the mayors, the Monitoring Committee brings together people who are connected to the university and the surrounding area. It is a group of individuals who can make a very interesting contribution to the appreciation of the work,” he says.
Regarding the functions of his team, he emphasizes that the aim is “not to control anything or anyone, as the Technical Commission is really independent” and regarding the planning of the agenda, he guarantees that there will be regular meetings and when this is justified with the coordinator of the Technical Commission to ask for clarification and to check the progress of the works.
Carlos Mineiro Aires confesses that he did not hesitate to accept the challenge and guarantees that he will commit himself to bring this odyssey to a successful conclusion. “When I was given the challenge, I couldn’t say no. In fact, I work pro bono, I’m retired and I do the job without getting paid a penny. Taxpayers don’t have to worry about me If you works from morning to night, without earning anything more than what I already receive, which is my pension, for which I have earned money, the stakes must of course be even greater, “he concludes.
Rute Simão is a journalist for Dinheiro Vivo
Source: DN
