The planned work is part of the Morar Melhor (Better Living) program, in which the Gebalis company intends to intervene in “11 neighborhoods, 129 buildings and over 2,000 fractions”, with a financial endowment of 40 million euros.
The intervention and rehabilitation plan in 11 municipal districts of Lisbon, with a total investment of 40 million euros up to 2026, will begin on Tuesday in the Bairro dos Alfinetes, in the parish of Marvila, the Gebalis company announced on Monday.
The planned works are part of the Morar Melhor (Better Living) program, in which Gebalis – Gestão do Arrendamento da Habitação Municipal de Lisboa (Lisbon Municipal Housing Rental Management) intends to intervene in “11 districts, 129 buildings and over 2,000 fractions”, with a financial allocation of 40 million euros, the amount set in the program contract signed with Lisbon City Council (CML), which will run from 2022 to 2026.
The first phase of the work to be carried out by Gebalis in the municipal districts for which it is responsible will begin on Tuesday at Bairro dos Alfinetes, in the parish of Marvila, in the presence of the mayor, Carlos Moedas (PSD).
“In order to offer a better quality of life to the residents of Bairro dos Alfinetes, a neighborhood made up of buildings constructed between 1995 and 2001, Gebalis is starting to implement its Morar Melhor (Living Better) program,” said the municipal company in a statement.
CML points out that “in many cases, this involves structural work on the roofs, facades and common areas of buildings that have not undergone any work for several decades”.
In a note on the agenda, the council also indicated that the planned interventions are also aimed at “modernizing and recovering inoperative elevators, which make the daily lives of many people, particularly the elderly, particularly complex”.
At the beginning of May, housing councillor Filipa Roseta (PSD) declared that this year the municipality would begin 11 of the works in a “mega-operation to rehabilitate” municipal districts, “many” of which have not been subject to interventions since their origin.
“This year, 11 works will begin, because they were already planned in our budget”, said Filipa Roseta, adding that 23 million euros will be spent.
Of the 11 neighborhoods involved – 2 de Maio, Açucenas, Alfinetes, Boavista, Bom Pastor, Condado, Flamenga, Nascimento Costa, Padre Cruz, Rego and Telheiras Sul – seven are included in the Special Rehousing Program (PER), implemented since 1993 to eradicate shacks in the metropolitan areas of Lisbon and Porto.
According to Gebalis, the company responsible for managing municipal housing, “CML has already expressed its intention to significantly increase investment in the Morar Melhor program with a new program contract”.
This intervention and rehabilitation plan in 11 neighborhoods has “a strong social component, involving above all the maintenance and reinforcement of community security, as well as the necessary general well-being of the population”, stressed the municipal company.
In the Bairro dos Alfinetes district, work will be carried out on a total of seven buildings and 68 fractions, with interventions planned on roofs and facades, in order to “give the building greater architectural harmony, safety, comfort and better living conditions for residents”, said Gebalis.
The Morar Melhor program will continue over the coming weeks at Bairro Padre Cruz, in the parish of Carnide, and at Bairro da Boavista, in Benfica.
For Gebalis board chairman Fernando Angleu, the phase of major interventions in Lisbon’s municipal districts starting this Tuesday “fully reflects the commitment and effort of CML and Gebalis to guarantee the community the quality of life and housing comfort that everyone deserves”, with the Morar Melhor program being “a key instrument” for achieving these goals.
