The prime minister on Thursday called for a deep and open debate in society and parliament on the National Railway Plan, but warned that the fervor that characterizes the infrastructure discussions must be consistent and not platonic.
António Costa spoke at the end of the presentation session of the National Railway Plan, at the National Laboratory of Civil Engineering (LNEC), in Lisbon, after the intervention of the Minister of Infrastructure and Housing, Pedro Nuno Santos.
A session where the Prime Minister arrived with some delay, while it was in progress, after having sat in a long cabinet meeting that lasted until early afternoon.
In his speech he even made a generic reference to the debate that the National Railway Plan has sparked today within the government itself, emphasizing that this proposal is far from closed.
“Even today in the Council of Ministers we heard different opinions about this particular plan: there were those who said that something was missing; there were those who said that there were too many solutions here; I myself have my own ideas on this issue, and we all do. It’s normal and healthy and, as you know, anything that is transportation infrastructure stirs up a strange passion,” he noted.
From the Prime Minister’s perspective, few things in Portugal generate as much passion as transport infrastructure.
“Unfortunately, sometimes the passion is so great that it becomes unimportant. It is so platonic, so platonic that one waits decades for its completion. But it is important that this debate on the National Railway Plan takes place in an open manner.” he noted, in an indirect allusion to the question of the location of Lisbon’s new airport.
In his speech, the leader of the executive branch tried to underline the statement that when we talk about transport infrastructure, one is not only addressing the question of transport policy, but “something that determines society as a whole, from the beginning spatial planning , the dynamics of life, economic development and as such it is not an exclusive subject for transport specialists”.
“It is really a theme of citizenship, the economy, territorial organization and the environmental issue. In this diversity, it is necessary to think”, he stressed before deeming the review process that will take place in the Assembly of the Republic “decisive”.
“This plan transcends many of the legislatures of those currently responsible for the country’s decisions. It is fundamental that the decision is made in the broadest possible way,” he insisted, after addressing the stage of the public discussion to which the plan will be directed. subject National Railways.
For António Costa, “from the public discussion, from the parliamentary debate, it is essential that the country is given a matrix, a design and then, depending on the evolution of the country’s availability and knowledge, the plan adapts on the course of time in execution”.
“The national highway plan that was approved in the 1980s has not been implemented since then because it has undergone changes. Well, we don’t know what the trains will look like in 15 years, but there is no doubt that we have a solid matrix, stabilized on which it is possible to evolve,” he added, in a speech in which he also expressed the idea reiterated that public transport is an essential element in the fight against climate change.
Source: DN
