The mayor of Lisbon, Carlos Moedas, emphasizes free transport for young and old as a major measure of a first year of office with “many decisions”, in a position that also includes “against” the government.
“People see a city in motion. I think those who are disappointed are those people who, partisan, end up wanting a different color here or a color aligned with the government.” [PS]. In fact, I think Lisboners in general are relieved to know that Lisbon is in the hands of someone who is firstly here to work for the people and secondly who is not on par with the government,” said the Social Democrat. , in statements to Lusa, when asked about any sense of disillusionment among voters who voted for “Novos Tempos.”
The mayor underlined the importance of being at the head of the country’s largest municipality: “We are also here to confront, in a sense, what is national governance, through what is Lisbon.”
One of the issues Carlos Moedas had to discuss with the government was the investment in the Lisbon 2023 World Youth Day, an event for which he had the chamber willing to invest “up to EUR 35 million”, but demanded clarification on “who makes what”.
When the mayor took office on October 18, 2021, “there was only 11 million euros in the budget” and “there was nothing else, there was no protocol or any agreement between the state, the church and the chamber whose what”.
Of the 12 major measures that were part of the election manifesto of the coalition “Novos Tempos” (PSD/CDS-PP/MPT/PPM/Aliança), “eight have been implemented or are being implemented”, the mayor said, referring to the increase of the return imposed on the citizen, the creation of the Citizens’ Council, the development of the Hub do Mar, free public transport for people under 23 and over 65, the strategy for transparency and prevention of corruption risks, the rehabilitation of municipal housing, to the Recuperar+ program to support companies and the implementation of the health plan for the over-65s (to be announced on Thursday).
“THE [medida] the most important was without a doubt free public transport, because that was a completely new era, few cities in Europe have free public transport for young and old […]. It marked this first year as one of the big measures,” the Social Democrat told Lusa, pointing out that 50 thousand people have already been registered.
He pointed out how “essential” to listen to people, he justified the withdrawal regarding the future of the Almirante Reis cycle path, by waiving the proposal for a temporary solution, but continues to defend the withdrawal of this cycle path, “by a structural project for the avenue”, which will be developed after a competition for young architects.
Without predicting that there would be a war after the covid-19 pandemic, with the military conflict in Ukraine, the mayor of Lisbon adapted the proposal of the Recuperar + program to support companies with 12 million euros to avoid the consequences of inflation , including in the package of 22 measures to respond to the general increase in the prices of goods and services, including in the energy sector, generating a total investment of approximately EUR 50 million.
With regard to the disagreement over Livre’s proposal, which concerns the reduction by 10 km/h in the current maximum speed limit in the city and the abolition of car traffic on Avenida da Liberdade on Sundays and public holidays, Carlos Moedas reiterated his vote against, despite advocating decarbonisation of the city and for citizens to organize themselves to “have some neighborhoods that can close parts of their streets on Sundays”.
“Closing Avenida da Liberdade was never even a problem for me, because it made no sense to me as an engineer,” he said.
The problem of access to housing continues to plague the city, with PS councilors accusing Coins of leaving affordable housing projects in the drawer, but the mayor replies that there are 1,000 houses under construction, 40 million euros to the company It was determined to restore more than 800 homes and it was decided to triple the amount of income support for up to 1,000 families as part of the anti-inflation measures.
“There can be no complaint here, nor any political argument to say that we are not doing it, we are actually doing more and investing more than in the past,” he considered, explaining that in the Alto do Restelo project that meant is to “hold a real public consultation, listen to people”, and defend that area “a green corridor” for Monsanto.
“It may have some construction, but not with the density previously predicted [em que se previa a construção de 400 habitações]”, he said.
In this first year of office, the PSD/CDS-PP leadership has progressed with the strategic plan for transparency and anti-corruption, including the municipal code of conduct and a whistleblower channel, and accelerated planning permission processes, with 1470 decisions between January and September, which confirms that “the council is moving, it is moving, with strength and dynamism,” explains Carlos Moedas.
Regarding the waste problem in the city, the mayor said that, in addition to hiring nearly 200 workers for city sanitation and paying the 12-month hardship allowance, he has already started a process of reflection with the presidents of the parish councils to “decide structurally what to do” with regard to sharing powers, i.e. better defining who does what. It is also planned to transfer 18 million euros to the boards by the end of the year, to pay the amounts due in 2021 and 2022.
In the municipal councils of September 26, 2021, Carlos Moedas was elected mayor of Lisbon by the coalition “Novos Tempos”, which obtained 34.25% of the vote and took the municipality away from the PS, which led the head of the capital for 14 years . and who obtained 33.3% via the candidacy “Mais Lisboa” (PS/Livre).
Source: DN
