The PSD defended this Tuesday, through deputy João Montenegro, that João Gomes Cravinho is unable to continue as foreign minister, following the derailment in the work of the Belém Military Hospital, which was 3.2 million euros. euros instead of the initially budgeted 750 thousand euros. Cravinho was then Minister of Defense.
“The provision as a member of the government is mortally wounded. A minister who has lied in this house cannot go on,” said the Social Democrat, who emphasized the government’s “a lot of rubbish” in just ten months of administration. during the hearing of the Minister by the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Portuguese Communities.
“What I see is a lot of boasting, but nothing concrete. A lot of innuendo, a lot of assertions, but concrete… ‘The minister has left out information,’ but will you carry it out? I’d like to hear it,” Gomes did Cravinho counterattacked.
The minister rejected tacit approval for the increase in costs for works on the Military Hospital of Belém and reiterated that he had not received any request in this regard.
During the hearing, Social Democratic deputy Paula Cardoso questioned the minister – who oversaw Defense between 2018 and 2022 – about the letter from the latest edition of Expresso of March 2020, informing Gomes Cravinho of the derailment in the costs of works on the former Military Hospital of Belém, claiming that the minister, by not saying anything, has tacitly authorized the increase in expenditure.
“In no case can it be imagined that this is a request for permission, in no case can it be imagined that it is tacitly approved by saying nothing”replied João Gomes Cravinho.
The Foreign Secretary stressed that “what is needed when making a request is to clearly identify the amounts”.
“It’s not saying ‘this is going to cost more than we thought, we think it’s going to cost more money and maybe more money later and we’ll see.’ That’s not a request for authorization.”creased.
That is what the ruler has declared “when an authorization request is submitted under an exception regime or not, the requirements include having a commitment, an identification of the funding source, a commitment related to the commitment”.
Cravinho stressed that the letter in question was not “very clear about the costs that would be required”.
On Friday, the newspaper ‘Expresso’ reported that the former Minister of Defense and current Minister of Foreign Affairs was told in March 2020 that the costs of the works on the former Military Hospital of Belém are skyrocketing.
According to the newspaper, citing a letter from March 2020, while the works are already underway, the Director General of National Defense Resources (DGRDN), Alberto Coelho, – today accused of corruption and money laundering in Operation Perfect Storm – informed – the minister about “additional work” that has already yielded almost one million euros extra.
On December 20, during the urgent debate on this subject requested by Chega in parliament, Gomes Cravinho guaranteed that he had not authorized an increase in expenditure beyond the 750 thousand euros originally foreseen for the requalification of the former Military Hospital of Belém when he was charged with Defense.
“Have I authorized an increase in expenditure above 750,000 euros? No, the answer is no, I did not authorize it and I was not asked for permission,” he assured.
The “Perfect Storm” operation was launched in December by the Judicial Police (PJ), in conjunction with the Public Prosecutor’s Office, and resulted in five arrests, including three senior defense officials and two businessmen, for a total of 19 defendants, corresponding to the period in which João Gomes Cravinho supervised that ministry.
One of the five arrested is former National Defense Resources Director General Alberto Coelho, who was allegedly involved in the slip in the re-qualification work of the Belém Military Hospital – and who later went on to run a government-owned defense sector company, ETI (EMPORDEF – Information Technologies, SA).
At stake are expenditures of about 3.2 million euros in the contract to convert the former Military Hospital of Belém, in Lisbon, into a covid-19 support center, a work with an initial budget of 750 thousand euros – derailment revealed by an audit by the National Defense Inspectorate General (IGDN).
on update
Source: DN
