“It was supposed to cost up to 500,000 euros, and now it has already exceeded two to three million euros. From here, everything is wrapped up because the council is committing to something for a value that is not feasible,” stated Lisbon Municipal Works Councillor Filipa Roseta (PSD), referring to the ‘Mission Pavilion Carnide’ project, which won the 2016 Participatory Budget.
The PSD councillor spoke at the municipal assembly meeting regarding the consideration of a petition advocating for the implementation of the ‘Mission Pavilion Carnide’ project, which resulted in the unanimous approval of a recommendation directed at the council, proposed by the 7th Committee on Culture, Education, Youth, and Sports.
In the recommendation, municipal deputies suggest the construction of a pavilion in Carnide that meets the needs of this parish, including serving athletes, communities, and clubs in the area. They advise the council to review aspects related to the execution, operation, and methodology of the Participatory Budget, particularly concerning the technical and budgetary validation of proposals, to “prevent the approval of proposals that are not technically feasible or whose budgetary value is unrealistic.”
Representing the petitioners, Catarina Ribeiro summarized the nine-year delay in constructing a pavilion in Carnide as “mess and opportunism,” noting that the Participatory Budget project was evaluated by a technical committee that deemed the proposed location “viable” and the investment amount “realistic.”
“We concluded that this project should not even have been accepted in the Participatory Budget,” the petitioner expressed, indicating that expectations were raised in the parish clubs regarding the construction of a sports pavilion, but they were “continuously disappointed.”
Catarina Ribeiro accused the council of opportunism by attempting to “kill two birds with one stone” by altering the project’s location to the Bairro Padre Cruz School, where conditions for sports practice are lacking, stressing that two pavilions should be constructed.
If it is not currently feasible to construct a pavilion outside the school, the petitioner considered that the council must ensure that “outside school hours, the pavilion must be obligatorily provided for use by parish clubs,” also requesting a deadline for launching the tender and executing the work.
According to the Municipal Works Councillor, Bairro Padre Cruz School is among the 28 schools transferred to the council in 2019, which are “in terrible condition,” but the Government has yet to allocate funds for the works.
Filipa Roseta stated that the council has requested a loan to proceed with the necessary projects for intervening in these schools and will then approach the Government for the funds to carry out the works.
The PSD councillor envisaged that the ‘Mission Pavilion Carnide’ project will be realized but also highlighted the execution of the Carnide Sports Complex, where the project has already been launched with a value of six million euros.
At this assembly meeting, deputies also approved the allocation of non-financial support to the organization of the Lisb-on Jardim Sonoro festival, totaling 743,893 euros, of which 611,000 euros are in municipal tax exemptions and 132,795 euros in goods, services, and human resources from the municipality for this year’s event, which took place from June 27 to 29.
The council’s proposal was opposed by BE, Livre, PEV, PCP, PAN, IL, PPM, and two deputies from Citizens for Lisbon (elected by the PS/Livre coalition), abstained by PS and MPT, and supported by PSD, Aliança, CDS-PP, and Chega.
