“The sole responsibility for this school not yet undergoing refurbishment lies entirely with the Socialist Party (PS),” stated the Social Democrat MP elected from the Beja constituency, in a statement released today.
According to Gonçalo Valente, “the PSD caucus in the Odemira Municipal Assembly has repeatedly intervened on this issue, expressing great concern over the lack of progress in this matter.”
The PSD parliamentarian’s clarifications followed a motion by the Odemira Municipal Assembly (AM) in the Beja district, expressing “deep discontent and indignation” over the “continuous and inexplicable neglect the Odemira Secondary School has faced by the Government” of AD (PSD/CDS-PP).
The motion, presented by PS members, was unanimously approved by the Odemira AM (which includes two PSD members) during a meeting held on September 26 and communicated to the media last week.
The issue arises as this school is not listed among the institutions set to receive funding through the European Investment Bank (EIB) for refurbishment, “favoring schools in other municipalities.”
On September 15, the Government announced the opening of the first competition with EIB funds that municipalities can apply for in order to fund refurbishment work in 22 schools across the country, including secondary schools in Almodôvar and Serpa, both in the Beja district.
The PSD MP from Beja accused the Odemira AM of “great irresponsibility and bad faith” for claiming the school “was excluded from European funding for renovation work,” arguing that this statement “does not correspond to the truth in any way.”
In 2022, Gonçalo Valente stated, a “sectoral agreement was signed between the socialist government and the National Association of Portuguese Municipalities for funding a school rehabilitation program.”
For this, he continued, “various priority levels were established based on the condition of each school,” and the Odemira Secondary School was “classified as P2 [urgent], by the same Government.”
“The Odemira Secondary School was not excluded from European funding, as claimed by the Odemira AM, it is included, but it was not eligible for this first EIB-funded call because the socialist government did not classify it as very urgent and the available funds do not allow for simultaneous intervention in all schools,” the parliamentarian highlighted.
Gonçalo Valente further stated that, “since funds are not unlimited,” the “calls will be opened according to the urgency of intervention” and “recently, the call for the refurbishment of schools deemed very urgent (P1) was opened.”
“However, in the coming weeks, a new call will be opened for schools classified as urgent (P2), such as Odemira Secondary School, and financed by the same source,” the EIB, he clarified.
The current Government will therefore “do what the previous Government did not do,” that is, refurbish this Alentejo school, assured the PSD deputy.
