During a ceremony at the Paços do Concelho of the Municipality of Crato, the Minister of Environment and Energy, Maria da Graça Carvalho, described the signing of these documents as a “historic milestone” for Alto Alentejo.
Also present, the Minister for Territorial Cohesion, Manuel Castro Almeida, who leads the AD — PSD/CDS Coalition in the upcoming legislative elections for the Portalegre district on the 18th, declared that intermediatory tasks, such as opinions and authorizations, have been completed: “The time for paperwork and bureaucracies is over.”
Hugo Hilário, President of the Intermunicipal Community of Alto Alentejo (CIMAA), the entity executing the project, affirmed that “the day everyone was waiting for has arrived,” while warning that “the road is long” with many stages still to overcome.
Environmental NGOs from the C7 Coalition have issued a warning that they will file an injunction if the construction of the Crato Multipurpose Hydraulic Utilization Project, also known as the Pisão Dam, proceeds.
Hélder Careto from the Group of Studies on Land Management and Environment (GEOTA), a member of C7, emphasized in statements to the Lusa news agency that the coalition will file an injunction to prevent “serious, hard-to-repair damages” in the dam’s construction area.
“If the works commence, we will file an injunction, as initiating the construction will result in an imminent situation leading to serious, hard-to-repair damages in the project’s zone of influence,” he criticized.
During the Crato ceremony, Lusa attempted to obtain reactions from the two ministers, the president of CIMAA, and the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA) regarding the environmentalists’ concerns, but all of these officials declined to comment.
The consortium winning the international bid for the project also declined to provide Lusa a start date for the construction.
A new financing agreement was signed during the session between CIMAA and the Recovery Portugal Mission Structure, which “formalizes the change in the project’s funding source,” transitioning from the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) to the State Budget, with a total amount of 222.2 million euros (plus VAT) and a completion deadline set for 2027.
The contract for the construction of the dam’s primary infrastructure was signed between CIMAA and the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA). The work assignment document was also signed with the consortium FCC Construcción, S.A., and Alberto Couto Alves, S.A., which “officially marks the beginning of the project,” according to the intermunicipal community.
Earlier this year, the Administrative and Fiscal Court of Castelo Branco (TAFCB) annulled the Environmental Impact Declaration (DIA) included in the project’s Unified Environmental Title (TUA), following an action by the C7 Coalition.
In February, the Minister of Environment announced that the APA had appealed this judicial decision, and earlier this month, Minister Manuel Castro Almeida stated that construction could proceed.
José Janela from the Portalegre regional branch of the environmental organization Quercus, also involved in the action at the TAFCB, criticized the government’s statements as “incorrect.”
“The TAFCB ordered the case to be sent to the Southern Central Administrative Court for appeal considerations but did not overturn the decision favoring the NGOs,” he stated.
