The Liberal Initiative of Lisbon wondered this Friday whether World Youth Day (WYD) will not be the “World Waste Day”, given the amounts involved in organizing the event, although its realization is not questioned.
“The World Youth Days or the World Spending Days?”asks in a statement questions to the municipal faction of the Liberal Initiative (IL), for which “the lack of organization and planning is clearly visible and that is why they are now, at the last minute, making successive direct adjustments of several million euros”.
“In addition to this pile of costs, there is a shifting of blame between the different parties involved in the project”can be read in the memorandum, in which the liberals remind that the municipality will spend a maximum of 35 million euros.
IL states that “holding the event is not in doubt” and recalls that, for the sake of the city’s image, it is “necessary to ensure the success of this event, but calls on all those involved to support the idea have that this event takes place in Portugal”.
“A country at the end of Europe specializes in the art of waste and that hurts us all,” he emphasizes.
The Liberals (who have three municipal deputies) recall that the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, requested that “the altar of the Eduardo VII Park, estimated at about two million euros, be revised, and that the podium of the Parque Tejo, the one that ‘hurt them all'”.
The Municipal Group also recalls that the announcement of Lisbon’s choice to host World Youth Day was made on January 27, 2019, but that the government and councils of Lisbon and Loures did not sign a Memorandum of Understanding until November 2022 to clarify give everyone responsibility in the organization of the event.
Lisbon’s mayor admitted on Thursday that he was concerned about the cost of the WYD, but assured he would not spend more than the €35 million he had pledged to invest.
“When I arrived [à Câmara de Lisboa], my concern was to limit costs. I was the one who said that the Lisbon Chamber would not spend more than €35 million.”said Carlos Moedas (PSD).
However, the event’s coordinating bishop also revealed on Thursday that the Catholic Church’s budget for WYD has not yet been finalized, which will be announced in the coming days, and indicated a provisional amount of more than €80 million.
“Eighty million euros is the value that we have been able to see in our responsibilities in the 2023 budget”said Américo Aguiar, Auxiliary Bishop of Lisbon, President of the WYD Lisbon 2023 Foundation and General Coordinator of the Local Organizing Committee (COL).
In the case of Loures, the cost estimate is 10 million euros and the government indicated an investment of 36.5 million.
Despite the fact that the municipalities and the government announced the estimated values months ago, the cost of the event has attracted controversy in recent days, as it was known that the construction of the podium altar in the main location of the winds (Parque Tejo) will 5 .3 million euros. The work has already been awarded to Mota-Engil by the Lisbon City Council.
WYD is the largest gathering of young Catholics from around the world with the Pope, taking place every two or three years between July and August.
Considered the largest event of the Catholic Church, this year’s gathering will take place in Lisbon, between August 1 and August 6, with an expected attendance of about 1.5 million people.
The main ceremonies of the day take place in Parque Tejo, in the north of Parque das Nações, on the banks of the Tagus River, in lands in the municipalities of Lisbon and Loures.
The days were born on the initiative of Pope John Paul II, after the success of the meeting promoted in Rome in 1985, in the International Year of Youth.
Source: DN
