Territorial Cohesion Minister Ana Abrunhosa said on Sunday that “there is no prudishness” to the president of the republic who says he will not forgive her if the implementation rate of European funds is not what she thinks it should be.
“We fully share the concern and pressure of the President of the Republic [PR]. The president says on several occasions: [a sua opinião] privately and in public. This time it had more visibility,” Ana Abrunhosa told journalists today.
The Minister of Territorial Cohesion spoke in Guarda, on the sidelines of the inauguration of the Mondego Walkways, which are part of the Serra da Estrela Natural Park and the UNESCO World Star Geopark.
“There is no prudishness, there is a shared concern and there is a shared ambition to put these funds to good use [europeus] that we have at our disposal. And it’s not worth dramatizing, it’s not worth it, because the president is playing his part, which is to require the government to do a job,” she said when confronted by the PR statements.
The minister explained to journalists that the PR intervention was “in a very informal environment” and that his concerns are “perfectly legitimate”.
“We are in a time where we have financial resources at our disposal, a lot of financial resources, but we all know it too, and it is not only in our country that the construction industry is a sector where prices rise every week, often are abandon the tenders, therefore the implementation of the projects is taking longer than we want,” he justified.
He added that the PR’s concerns about European funds are “legitimate” and that the informal way he was addressed “is because he has friendship with the minister”.
“I have often heard the President of the Republic worry about the implementation of the funds,” he said.
Ana Abrunhosa also explained that Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa’s statements were made after his speech, in which he said that the project inaugurated in Trofa had used European funds, paid tribute to the mayors and “referred that public life is a life is of great surrender, great difficulty and exposure”.
“Therefore, in that order, it is normal that the President of the Republic made the intervention that he did,” he concluded.
The Minister for Territorial Cohesion also said the government is “attentive” to public funds and “always concerned”.
However, he pointed out that the responsibility for the implementation of Community funds “lies at different levels”.
On Saturday, in Trofa, the day the town hall of a municipality founded 24 years ago was inaugurated, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa began his speech by addressing Ana Abrunhosa to whom he said he wanted “two things”. say.
“And because I haven’t had a chance to say it, I’m saying it today. When we accept political positions, we know it’s for good or bad. We’re not obligated to accept it. We know they’re hard.” “They are difficult, that they are subject to scrutiny and increasing control – that’s what democracy is – and there are good days and bad days, happy days and unhappy days. The ratio is two happy days for 10 unlucky days,” he said.
And he continued, still addressed to the minister, with a warning about the spending of European funds.
“This is a super happy day, but there are super unlucky days. And really super unlucky for you will be the day when I discover that the execution rate of European funds is not what I think it should be. In that case I will That’s not ‘I forgive you, I hope that day doesn’t come, but I’ll be on my guard in case it does,’ he declared.
Source: DN
