PSD Algarve warns further Central Hospital delays ‘will not be forgiven’

The Algarve branch of Portugal’s Social Democratic Party (PSD) has urged local authorities and the government to resolve their dispute over funding access roads to the future Algarve Central Hospital through dialogue, warning that any further delays to the project would be politically unforgivable.

The statement follows comments by the mayors of Loulé and Faro, who have objected to suggestions that their municipalities should pay for road infrastructure serving the new hospital, arguing that it is a national responsibility.

The regional branch of PSD says the hospital is a “strategic infrastructure for both the region and the country”.

“After decades of promises, delays and deadlocks, it cannot be held hostage to institutional disagreements,” it adds.

“If the mayors believe there are issues to clarify regarding the access roads or their funding, they should first request a meeting with those responsible in order to seek a solution,” the party argues.

Taking the dispute to the media before exhausting institutional channels has ended up raising doubts around a project that the Algarve has been waiting for for decades, the social democrats warn.

PSD Algarve president Cristóvão Norte says residents are tired of seeing the hospital feature in the news for the wrong reasons.

“The Algarve Central Hospital has appeared on television too many times for the worst reasons: delays, deadlock and political disputes. People in the Algarve do not want to watch another chapter of that story. They want to see the project move forward,” he says in a statement.

He also criticised the mayors of Faro and Loulé for taking the matter to the media before finding solutions.

“Those who lead local authorities have a duty to seek solutions before turning to newspapers and television. People in the Algarve expect their mayors to exhaust the institutional channels first and only then, if necessary, take the debate into the public arena,” Norte insists.

The PSD Algarve leader warns that anyone responsible for delaying the project again would be held accountable by the region.

“Anyone who, through action or inaction, contributes to delaying the Algarve Central Hospital once again will be politically responsible before the people of the Algarve. The region will not forgive those who create new obstacles to a project that is absolutely decisive for its future,” he says.

The intervention comes after SIC reported that the municipalities of Faro and Loulé had rejected the prospect of bearing the cost of access roads to the hospital, insisting that the infrastructure should be funded by the State, as has happened in other parts of the country.

Michael Bruxo

Journalist for the Portugal Resident.