BE’s recommendation to the Government to abolish the payment of tolls on Highway 28 (A28), between Viana do Castelo and Porto, was failed today in parliament, with the PS voting against.
PSD, CDS-PP and Liberal Initiative abstained, while BE, PCP, PAN, PEV and non-registered deputy Joacine Katar Moreira voted in favor.
The BE initiative, which was submitted to the Assembly of the Republic in November and on Thursday was discussed in plenary, called for the “immediate abolition of toll charges across the entire length of the A28”.
“We are facing a situation of concrete injustice for Alto Minho, severely penalized by the introduction of tolls, with a significant impact on the economic, commercial and tourist relations between Alto Minho and Galicia, since 51% of the goods transported to Spain they enter through Galicia and 65% of the goods transported by road in the north of Portugal come from Galicia ”, read the text presented by the blockers.
In the draft resolution, BE also warned of the “added difficulties” caused by the portico of Neiva (Viana do Castelo), stating that “the existence of discounts for goods vehicles is not sufficient to ensure the financial solvency of micro and small companies ”.
“The existence of tolls on the A28 isolates the Alto Minho even more, because whoever goes from there to the rest of the country, passing through Porto, for example, has an increased cost, which fosters inequality between regions of the country, when it would be important ensure territorial cohesion ”, argued BE deputies.
In addition, the document also referred to “the increase in accidents on the National Road (EN) 13, as a result of the relocation of traffic from the A28 to this urban road”.
On the day that the BE initiative was discussed in the plenary of the Assembly of the Republic, a petition, presented in 2017, from the Alto Minho Business Confederation (CEVAL), which claimed the elimination of the Neiva portico of Highway 28 (A28), was also debated .
PSD says it wants to remove gantry on the A28 and that the rejected project was for all highways
Eduardo Teixeira (PSD) reacts
Eduardo Teixeira, deputy of the Assembly of the Republic elected by the Viana do Castelo constituency, has already reacted to the lead in parliament for the abolition of tolls on Highway 28 (A28), proposed by the Left Block.
Speaking to O MINHO, he says it is “false” that the PSD is against the abolition of tolls in the Viana area, and that the abstention before the blockade resolution is due to the extemporaneity of the proposal.
Teixeira adds that the BE’s recommendation did not only focus on the A28, but on all highways in the country, and that is not the PSD’s intention.
“I don’t want to know about the other sides, I want to know about my district and it is obvious that I am in favor start the portico of Neiva, and all parliamentary leaders are in agreement on this matter ”.
The deputy explains that there is already a PSD recommendation, which only applies to the Viana toll, and that it will go to parliamentary discussion in the near future, and should be approved.
In the vote, it was never a matter of voting for or against the A28 portico, but for all tolls on all highways in the country.
Eduardo Teixeira recalls that, on Thursday, he was the one who led the demands for the elimination of the portico, during the debate in the Assembly of the Republic.
In a statement, the deputy said that “there should be a broad consensus on the elimination of this portico, which constitutes an obstacle to intra and extra municipal commuting, the competitiveness of companies, cross-border cooperation and penalizes those who produce and work in the largest industrial zone in the region. ”.
Recalls that “it was the PSD government that plucked the seven porticos that the PS left ready in the district of Viana do Castelo ”. “They wanted to port the connections between Viana do Castelo – Arcos-de-Valdevez – Ponte de Lima and between Viana do Castelo – Caminha – Cerveira”, he denounces.
Eduardo Teixeira stressed that “it is now up to the PS government, ten years after the Neiva portico, to do something for this region, correcting the error and injustice it had, in order to give a clear signal and a clear contribution to mobility, promoting social and territorial cohesion in the region ”.
The portico of Neiva da A28 is located at the entrance to an industrial area in the capital of Alto Minho and is considered an “obstacle” to the region’s business activity.
(news updated at 8:40 pm with Eduardo Teixeira’s reaction)
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