The final report on proposal evaluations was approved by a majority today during the executive’s biweekly meeting, moved up by seven days to ensure the issue could be voted on at the Municipal Assembly on June 27.
The motion was supported by three elected members of the independent movement ‘Pela Guarda,’ which has governed the municipality since 2021, while opposition councilors—three from the PSD and one from the PS—abstained.
This long-term loan, set for a 10-year term, was initially approved by a majority on April 28, with the deciding vote cast by President Sérgio Costa, as the PSD voted against and the PS abstained at that time.
“It was approved today, it will go to the Municipal Assembly, and before we know it, more than a year has passed since we first attempted to approve loans for the regeneration and urban mobility of Vale do Cabroeiro,” the independent mayor told the Lusa agency after the meeting.
Sérgio Costa emphasized that it was the opposition’s rejections that caused significant delays in the process but asserted that now “no one can stop the Variante da Ti’Jaquina [as the avenue is locally known].”
The Mayor of Guarda hopes that the loan agreement will also be approved at a forthcoming executive meeting and receive approval from the Court of Auditors.
“We need this funding to pay for expropriations and to start the much-anticipated construction work in Guarda. We only hope to be allowed to proceed,” he stated.
Carlos Chaves Monteiro of the PSD recalled that the social democrats initially refused this loan request, but abstained this time to “not obstruct the normal administrative procedures of concluding something already approved by the independent majority.”
“Even so, the council has committed to a loan it will not implement in the remaining two months of this mandate,” he noted.
Socialist representative António Monteirinho, substituting for councilor Adelaide Campos, stated that the PS maintained “the consistent stance taken at the loan request’s approval and could not have done otherwise.”
“The Socialist Party is a responsible party and will vote favorably whenever it believes the funding requested by the majority benefits the people of Guarda,” he assured.
The Alameda dos F’s will connect VICEG (External Beltway of Guarda) with the city center, at a roundabout popularly known as either Ti’Jaquina or the F’s.
This project is part of the Cabroeiro Detailed Plan, which includes the expansion of the city’s industrial park, and residential and urban development in the neighborhoods of Luz, Pinheiro, Póvoa do Mileu, and Nª Sra. dos Remédios.
The City Council of Guarda considers this intervention and the construction of the variant “vital for the city and essential for its urban development.”
