On Facebook, Gonçalo Lopes (PS) wrote that a dispatch was published “for the financing of additional interventions within the Schools Program, through a global EIB [European Investment Bank] loan, which opens doors to financing the ongoing works at Afonso Lopes Vieira Secondary School and D. Dinis 2nd and 3rd Cycle Basic School, which had been excluded from the RRP [Recovery and Resilience Plan] applications.”
“This dispatch corrects an unfair situation from the previous competition, which did not prioritize project maturity as a selection factor, now creating conditions for financing the most advanced interventions, such as those we are carrying out,” he added.
In June, Gonçalo Lopes criticized the exclusion of three schools in the municipality from RRP funding, considering it a “profound breach of trust.”
“Mayors were encouraged to proceed with works because money would not be lacking, and now it is. Therefore, this is a profound breach of trust between governments and municipalities,” Gonçalo Lopes stated at the time.
At issue was the requalification of Afonso Lopes Vieira and D. Dinis schools (7,276,000 euros and 9,369,000 euros, respectively), which are ongoing, and the 2,3 basic school of Marrazes (9,887,000 euros, in the tender launch phase).
The mayor expressed “some surprise and disappointment” as the approval factor did not prioritize “applications with a higher level of maturity in terms of execution.”
In today’s post, Gonçalo Lopes mentioned that “the Center Regional Coordination and Development Commission will have 60 million euros to finance these and other interventions within the Schools Program,” emphasizing that the Leiria Municipality “made the decision to keep these works ongoing, regardless of funding uncertainties,” as it is “absolutely priority to continue transforming” schools “into modern spaces suitable for the educational needs and challenges of the 21st century.”
In statements today, the mayor stressed that this is “a sign of hope regarding the financing of these schools through the loan, but with a selection criterion that meets” what the City Council has always defended, which is the “degree of maturity of interventions and not the order of arrival of applications.”
“This corrects, although outside the RRP, in another instrument, what we have been claiming, which is that the selection criteria should be those that are now identified,” he declared, hoping that the financing “will materialize as quickly as possible,” so that “the financial situation of the municipality, with this anticipation of investment, is not harmed.”
The Ministry of Territorial Cohesion announced that the Government will authorize regional coordination and development commissions to allocate funding to municipalities, up to the amount of 180 million euros, for the construction and renovation of schools.
According to the office of the Assistant Minister and of Territorial Cohesion, the measure will allow the approval of applications that were not initially included in the tender launched under the RRP.
The executive thus wants to prevent delays in projects that have already been contracted under the RRP and, through this ‘overbooking’, ensure that the set goal is met, which foresees the construction or renovation of 75 schools by June 2026.
The interventions to be financed will be selected according to the “maturity of the project,” said the ministry, which explained that the first priority will be schools already under construction, followed by awarded projects, and finally, projects with published tender notices.
