46 million Euro investment to prepare Ponta Delgada Port for the future, stresses President of the Government
The President of the Government visited today the site where the upgrading and rehabilitation works of Ponta Delgada Port are taking place, an investment of about 46 million Euros that will increase the capacity of the container park by 68% and allow the operation of three ships simultaneously in the area under intervention.
"This is an investment of about 46 million Euros with co-funding of 32 million Euros from Community funds. Basically, we are talking about the future, providing this port with the necessary capacity and operational conditions for the future," said Vasco Cordeiro.
Speaking to journalists, the President of the Government stated that the investment in Ponta Delgada Port reached 100 million Euros in the last six, including the works to repair the damage caused by storms and the investments to increase its operational capacity.
According to him, the 46 million Euro work that began this month is co-financed by COMPETE 2020, a programme that, within the scope of Community funds available to the Region, has co-financed a wide range of interventions that are under way or have already been completed on the islands of Corvo, Flores, Faial, Pico, São Jorge and Terceira.
“It is important to note that this global investment amount, which allows these works, is only possible because there was a decision on the part of the National Government to increase the Community funds allocated to the Region for this type of interventions. The amount is quite significant and almost doubled the Community funding figures” for this purpose, stressed Vasco Cordeiro.
Besides the planned redevelopment works, the Government is making investments in various regional ports to repair the damage caused by Hurricane Lorenzo, particularly on the islands of Santa Maria, São Miguel, Terceira, Pico, Faial, São Jorge, Flores and Corvo.
In the case of Flores Island, the emergency protection works are already under way, Vasco Cordeiro said, adding that all the remaining investments are at a stage of completion, design, scale model testing or in the process of launching the necessary procedures.
It should be recalled that, in early October 2019, Hurricane Lorenzo caused damage estimated at around 330 million Euros, namely to several port structures, with the National Government committed to supporting 85 percent of that amount.
The improvement works at the Ponta Delgada Port, among other components, include the expansion of the embankment area, which will make possible the construction of a new front pier that, in turn, will expand the area for container parks by approximately 9,500 m2.
There are also plans to demolish the building known as "Custom House" and transform this area into a container park, which will have an area of approximately 17,000 m2.
After the contract work is completed, the Ponta Delgada Port will have capacity for three container ships operating simultaneously on the same embankment, thus decreasing the number of movements and cycles of container transport, loading and unloading.
The intervention also includes the construction of a new building for port operations, electricity supply infrastructures for the container park and lighting for the entire embankment with LED technology, installation of technical network infrastructures, water supply for fire systems, and rainwater and sewer drainage, among others.