The BE coordinator defended this Monday that an “emergency plan” is needed to strengthen public transport in Lisbon during works on the metro, as the current situation is “absolutely unsustainable”.
Speaking to journalists at the Campo Grande station, Catarina Martins found it incomprehensible “that so many works were started at the same time” and “that there was no plan to ensure people’s mobility during the works” to expand the metro network in the capital expand .
“BE proposed a contingency plan for mobility in this day and age in the Lisbon Chamber a year ago, Carlos Moedas kept the plan in a drawer for a year, he didn’t even want to debate it. He had to vote on it and it was approved, but at a time when the chaos is already installed and meanwhile we have transport companies saying it is not possible, that there are no solutions, that they cannot find transport anymore,” he complained.
The blockista leader pointed out that “when there is an important event” such as a football match, “there are alternative careers”, and when it is World Youth Day, in August, “reinforcement of transport is needed”.
“What we are saying is that those who need transportation every day to get to work and to study should be treated with the same respect as if it were needed for a major sporting event or a major international gathering,” he defended.
Catarina Martins said it was incomprehensible “why it is not also possible to find alternative careers and increase the transport offer” on a daily basis, warning that “the situation in which people who work and live in Lisbon are currently absolutely intolerable, it is unbearable, people waste hours on transport, there is no transport, there are places where there is no connection”.
“Those who work or live in Lisbon don’t need to be told that there will be an emergency plan, they really need it,” he defended.
Pointing out that this situation is “absolutely unacceptable” and that “making the city impossible for public transport is absolutely irresponsible”, the Block coordinator pointed out that, in order to resolve the situation, “it will be necessary to spend money , yes, it will be necessary to hire “, and argues that there should be a “cost sharing” between the autarchy and the executive.
“The problem is that both the Lisbon Chamber and the government are pretending that everything is fine, we don’t see anyone working on the solution,” he criticized.
The BE coordinator was next to Lisbon’s Campo Grande metro on Monday morning, where she heard testimonies of the difficulties experienced by some people, including party leaders, who failed to enter the station.
Asked about the European Commission’s projection for Portuguese GDP growth of up to 2.4%, Catarina Martins said that “growth of the economy has also meant more revenue for the state” and questioned how this income is invested.
“We don’t see that [a ser] where it is essential, for example in transport, healthcare or education,” he defended.
Also questioned about the hearings scheduled for this week of Infrastructure Minister João Galamba and his former deputy Frederico Pinheiro in the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry into the political oversight of TAP’s management, the leader of the blockers stressed the importance of understanding “exactly how decisions are made, to hold accountable those who should be held accountable for bad decisions, but also so that the irresponsibility seen in TAP “in every part of the state” is never repeated”.
Source: DN
