The municipality, led by Socialist Marco Almeida, filed an injunction to suspend the effectiveness of the Viseu Municipal Assembly’s decision on June 30, which approved the adherence to the multimunicipal system.
“The Viseu City Council transferred the Fagilde Water Treatment Station (ETA) and its operation and management to Águas do Douro e Paiva. However, we believe that the Fagilde ETA does not belong to the Viseu City Council but is a common asset of the municipalities of Viseu, Mangualde, Nelas, and Penalva do Castelo,” Marco Almeida explained.
In his opinion, the “Viseu City Council cannot make unilateral decisions without consulting the other municipalities that are part of a water supply system that has been in place for 45 years.”
“Currently, everything is on hold. The Viseu City Council is completely prohibited from proceeding with any actions related to this issue until all municipalities are consulted,” he emphasized.
Lusa has not yet received a comment from the President of the Viseu City Council, Fernando Ruas (PSD), regarding this injunction.
Marco Almeida stated that the Viseu City Council now has a deadline to respond: “I do not know what they will claim, as the public interest will hardly be valid, considering that the system has been functioning like this for 45 years.”
The socialist mayor recalled that “from the very first moment,” he opposed joining the multimunicipal water supply system in southern Greater Porto, managed by Águas do Douro e Paiva, part of the Águas de Portugal group.
Back in March, as soon as the Council of Ministers approved the decree-law providing for the integration of the municipalities of Mangualde, Nelas, Oliveira de Frades, Penalva do Castelo, São Pedro do Sul, Sátão, Vale de Cambra, Viseu, and Vouzela into this multimunicipal system, Marco Almeida stated he would resort to the courts, as it is “a highly penalizing deal for consumers.”
For Fernando Ruas, however, this is the solution that will resolve the “high-level” water supply to the municipality and the region.
At the Municipal Assembly on June 30, Fernando Ruas recalled several years of drought, such as in 2017, and argued that this is “the cheapest solution in the country and the one that ensures an effective resolution of the problem for the entire region.”
The decree-law published on June 3, which gives each municipality one year to deliberate in the Municipal Assembly about joining, provides for the allocation to the multimunicipal water supply system in southern Greater Porto “of the Fagilde dam, as well as the goods, hydraulic infrastructures, and equipment associated, whose operation, management, and conservation are integrated into the concession.”
Also to be affected are “the infrastructures and other assets and rights of the municipalities, intermunicipal entities, and any managing entities of the respective municipal systems, which are necessary or useful for the proper functioning of the system,” with compensation, as added by the decree.
