“There are some local councils that are not paying what they owe to companies, which puts them in a difficult situation.” This complaint was made today by the Regional Secretary for Science, Technology and Infrastructures during a ceremony to sign the construction contract for a bypass road around the town of Rabo de Peixe.
According to José Contente, “we all know and we have the information that some local councils, sometimes important city and town halls, do not have a settled situation with companies.”
Confronted this scenario, the Secretary encouraged organisations and associations that represent the construction sector so that “they may have the courage to defend their associates with the same intensity with which they defend all the other problems related to the sector, and provide information on the entities that are hindering some companies.”
In addition to the associations, José Contente also expects that the media, “which play an important educational role,” may draw the attention for some worrying situations, “because there are small companies that are facing difficult situations caused by local entities.”
Defending a strategic sector for the Azorean economy, the Regional Secretary says that the public entities should follow the example of the Regional Secretariat for Science, “we only do what we can afford. And that is what everyone should do.”
José Contente conveyed a message of confidence on the sector, saying that “as we have always announced, the second trimester would be better than the first with regard to the Government’s public investment, as the Investment Plan for 2009 has entered into force later,” adding that the Regional Government is improving the public investment.
The Regional Secretary mentions the bypass road around the town of Rabo de Peixe, located in the municipality of Ribeira Grande, as “another important work,” an investment of 7.8 million Euros, which contributes and reinforces the promotion of this investment, thus “ensuring to the consortium of companies (Tecnovia Açores, Marques and Engenheiro Luís Gomes) to which this contract work was awarded that “the payment will be is assured, because all payments will be made in due time in order to avoid any setback that may compromise the work.”
The Rabo de Peixe bypass is a 5 Km urban road that connects the Canada Grande to the Rabo de Peixe Port, with pavements, illumination, a cycle lane, three lanes in some sections and five roundabouts.
“We were careful to design an urban road that will provide the town of Rabo de Peixe a fundamental infrastructure for its development and growth, particularly to the South, in addition to providing the town with a new feature, as well as a new profile,” underlined the Regional Secretary.
José Contente valued the strategic partnership of the three Regional companies to which the works were awarded, saying that “this is the way how companies are successful in our market, and this is how they will know that a 7.8 million Euro investment promotes the construction sector,” and equally reminded the road renewal being undertaken by the Government on the islands of Santa Maria and Corvo.”