The leader of the Left Bloc (BE), Catarina Martins, accused the government this Saturday of using studies for the new airport as “maneuvers” for a “great gift to the French multinational” that bought the airports at the time of the right-wing government.
The government “now says that it will study again, which in fact has already been studied, and all these maneuvers are especially a great gift to the multinational that bought the Portuguese airports during the time of the PSD and CDS-PP government “, accused.
Catarina Martins thus reacted, in statements to journalists in Viseu, after a visit to the Producers Market, to the executive’s announcement, this Friday, of the creation of the independent technical commission to study the location of the new airport.
As he defended, “there is nothing new except what was already known” as the government has been saying for so many years “it had to be in Montijo, that it couldn’t be anything but Montijo” and now go back to studying.
“They don’t want to make the investments they want to make in the country, they are always looking for the cheapest solution and this delay in making decisions or wanting to make decisions from an environmental point of view is unacceptable,” he stressed. .
In this sense, he defended that “there were always ruses to do the will of Vinci, namely that French company that ended up at the airports in Portugal”, which in his opinion “is a mistake, Portugal obviously had to have a different vision”.
“We already know, there are already solutions, there have already been studies, in short, it’s just a matter of procrastinating more because Vinci doesn’t want to spend any money,” commented Catarina Martins, sitting on the sidelines of a visit to Viseu as part of the climate roadmap that BE is implementing.
Asked about the meeting between the party leaders of the PS and the PSD regarding the airport, Catarina Martins said that “it is nothing new”, as “the PS, by an absolute majority, was clear that the negotiations with the PSD are on” .
In this sense, he said that “it is not the first time that when there is a project that is going through a crisis due to the impoverishment of those who work”, you see “PS and PSD sitting at the same table”, that is, “the is always the same strategy”.
“What do you do in a crisis? It’s to impoverish those who make a living from their work, it’s to make those who have to live on their salary, their pension, fall under the weight of the crisis,” he accused.
In other words, he added: “The PS follows this path and seeks and will seek in the PSD the solace for this path and the PSD has also always found this natural path, has always defended it,” he underlined.
New executive in the SNS “doesn’t change anything” in Health
The leader of the Left Bloc (BE), Catarina Martins, said the new positions in the National Health Service (SNS) will not change Health, which remains underfunded by the Prime Minister and the Treasury Department.
“We’re getting a board of directors and another board of directors — we already know about some of the functions — and we’ve got this problem: health care is underfunded every year and there’s a constant veto on investment in the National Health Service” he pointed out. .
Catarina Martins said that “this decision was not taken by the Ministry of Health, it is a decision of the Prime Minister with the finance ministers and therefore to say that there will be an executive direction without changing it will change absolutely nothing”.
“What is the point of autonomy from the Ministry of Health if there is no autonomy to invest in the SNS and end underfunding? What are new interesting positions if the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance continue to veto about budgets and capacity investments in the SNS?” he asked.
The block leader responded to the government’s announcement on Friday of the new director of the SNS.
Regarding the visit, he said a lady he spoke to at the producer’s market told him that “she’s been waiting for an appointment for nine months” for the Centro Hospitalar Tondela-Viseu.
In that sense, he defended that “perhaps the best thing to do is do what matters: retain professionals in the SNS, make the investments that matter, change careers if necessary for people to decide to stay with the SNS, and don’t go away”.
“And that takes time and in the meantime we discuss what actually changes nothing,” he concluded.
Government makes “policy in favor” of oil companies
Catarina Martins also assumed that the fight against inflation requires policies that are not in favor of oil companies, on the contrary, they must pass on what they earn more.
“BE knows that the response to inflation, like the response to the climate crisis, requires policies that do not remain in favor of oil companies and that, on the contrary, for what they earn can charge more to support the sectors most in need of support he defended.
“Don’t think it’s a problem for other countries. António Guterres talked about the billions of profits of the big oil companies, but I remember that in Portugal, in the last semester, Galp presented more than 153% of the profits in a semester he pointed out.
The leader of the blockade recalled the words this week of UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who said that “the oil companies have made money like never before and that they are doing this on behalf of a people and peoples who are impoverished and do it on behalf of the planet”.
And he called for excessive profits to be taxed, so that what was taxed of these excessive profits would serve to support the population most affected by price increases and also serve to make the necessary investments, make the necessary changes. , in light of the climate transition,” he emphasized. .
In this sense, he said that “inflation is not a problem for everyone, there are a few who make a lot of money” and defended that “it is urgent to tax excessive profits to support those who suffer so much”.
“And the government is one of those that most denies the evidence that it is necessary to put the oil companies in their place,” accused Catarina Martins, drawing attention this Friday to the news of the “fiscal surplus in the first half.” ” of the year .
The leader stressed that “the country has no shortage” as “it had a surplus in the first half of the year, while those who make a living from their jobs like to count the pennies to buy the basic goods they need to attract .” the table”.
“Although schools have no prerequisites, while everything is lacking in health, the country had a surplus. It is a response to the crisis caused by the impoverishment of public services and of those who make a living from their work,” emphasized the blockist.
Catarina Martins also said that all this is happening “in a scenario of agreement between the PS and the right”, which, she admitted, “is not a new scenario, but it is one in which Portugal cannot resign”.
“We cannot accept that there are people who are making so much profit from the crisis, that public accounts are even swelled by inflation and at the same time wages are stagnating, that pensions do not get the raise they should have, that hospitals have everything they need. , everything is lacking in schools,” he defended.
In other words, he added: “this is a project that attacks Portugal and it is of course necessary to be guided by a different way of responding to the crisis”, which he believes is “possible and this is the way” along which BE will fight “tiringly”.
Source: DN
