Safety improvement on access road to Ribeira Quente with project presented and tender launched
The Regional Secretary for Transport and Public Works stressed that the announcement of the public tender for the second phase of the works to improve safety conditions on Ribeira Quente Regional Road was published today, precisely on the day when the respective project was presented in this parish.
Ana Cunha stated that the Regional Government did not "to limit itself to the mere presentation of the project," thus going "further" and taking "another step towards the effective implementation of this commitment and need."
The Secretary for Public Works said that the road section covered by this intervention will have better safety conditions, complementing the first phase of the intervention, already completed, which represented an investment of 1.5 million Euros.
“This is a construction project with a high level of technical requirements.” It involves the construction of a semi-tunnel to protect the roadway from eventual landslides, stretching over 200 metres, an investment of five million Euros, stressed Ana Cunha.
The Regional Secretary also highlighted the fact that this intervention will only be carried out with financial resources from the Government. According to her, this is "a clear sign of the priorities set in the distribution of resources" for the safety improvement of the Azoreans and those who visit the archipelago.
Ana Cunha stated that works amounting to three million Euros have been carried in the municipality of Povoação out since the beginning of the current legislative period. In this regard, she pointed out the upgrading of the east entrance to Povoação and the launch of the works contract for the construction of Furnas bypass road.
"If we add up this investment to this second phase now presented and to the tender, we are talking about investments already completed or with tenders already launched that will reach 15 million Euros in the road network of this municipality by the end of this legislative period," said the government official.
The Regional Secretary recalled that the investment made by the Regional Government in the road network throughout the archipelago reached 80 million Euros between 2013 and 2020, although the current Community Support Framework, negotiated by the National Government in 2013, had excluded investments in roads.
"Even so, the Regional Government managed to negotiate 16 million Euros of Community funds for Outermost Regions between 2014 and 2020, which gave us the possibility to carry out various interventions in this area on all the islands of the Region," said Ana Cunha. In this regard, she also pointed out the fact that, currently, the financial implementation rate of this action corresponds to more than 96% of the plan of the Regional Secretariat for Transport and Public Works.
Ana Cunha stressed that the investments on the island of São Miguel have not been limited to roads, stressing that, for the moment, public works amounting to 217 million Euros have already been completed or are under way on this island alone.
In addition to these figures, there are planned investments amounting to more than 68 million Euros and the 25 million-Euro works for the recovery from the damage caused by Hurricane Lorenzo in Ponta Delgada Port.
Ana Cunha considered that these investments "will guarantee the construction sector the necessary predictability so that it can carry out its activity as normal as possible in the coming years," recalling the social and economic impact of these works on the lives of the Azoreans.
In this context, the Regional Secretary highlighted the relevance of the Regional Government in contributing to the sustainability of an activity sector that “is one of the major generators of wealth and job creation in the entire Region. I am sure it will play an important role in the economic recovery process that is taking place in the Region."
“The Regional Government continues its work, always confident that we will continue to develop our parishes, towns, cities and islands. For our part, the commitment will always be the same, as on the first day," said Ana Cunha.