“The recent television reports about the tragic Gloria elevator incident have brought to light previously unknown information from Lisbon City Hall (CML), contradicting earlier statements made publicly by the mayor and the Carris Board of Directors,” stated the PCP council members in an inquiry directed at Carlos Moedas.
The first question from the PCP concerns the approach taken by the municipal company Carris, wholly owned by CML, during the public tender process launched in 2022, “in response to the abnormally low price submitted by MNTC, Lda., which eventually won the contract for maintaining the elevators operated by Carris.”
The Gloria elevator in Lisbon, managed by the municipal company Carris, derailed on September 3, resulting in 16 fatalities and dozens of injuries, involving both Portuguese and foreign nationals.
On the contract with MNTC, the PCP highlighted that the bid submitted, particularly in the main component of the maintenance service, “was 46% below the base price established in the terms of reference.”
Stressing the “essential need to promptly and fully clarify previously raised issues,” which have yet to receive an adequate response, the PCP requested the CML president urgently provide a written reply to the team investigating responsibilities for the Gloria elevator accident, which includes all political forces represented in the municipality, before an extraordinary municipal executive meeting is convened.
The PCP is inquiring about the jury’s approach when faced with the winning proposal’s “abnormally low service provision price” during the 2022 tender process for elevator maintenance services.
Another request involves the “thorough investigation of complaints and alerts concerning the elevators’ operation and maintenance, particularly the Gloria elevator, filed by workers’ representative organizations since the company was municipalized.”
According to the PCP, recent television reports contradict what was asserted by the mayor and Carris’s Board, revealing “evidence, including documentary proof, that organizations representing Carris workers had issued well-founded alerts about the elevator’s safety system malfunctions,” raising questions about the quality of the maintenance performed.
The PCP also advocates for a hearing with workers’ representative organizations, a new hearing with Carris’s Board, to “clarify contradictions” regarding maintenance processes, and a hearing with members of the previous Board about decisions made in tenders prior to 2022.
In this context, PS, Livre, BE, and Citizens for Lisbon have filed a request for an extraordinary CML meeting on Thursday, September 25, to obtain “clarifications about falsehoods, omissions, and inconsistencies” regarding the Gloria elevator incident.
This request follows two media reports concerning, notably, “two prior accidents — in October 2024 and May 2025 — which were publicly denied by the president of Carris’s Board and the deputy mayor of CML, but which Carris has now confirmed.”
