Describing as significant the admission by officials that there is an “insufficient amount of funds to finance the construction of the Algarve seawater desalination plant”, the PAS considered it “clear that the plan cannot be implemented as it is no longer viable”.

The PAS justified this consideration by stating that António Miguel Pina, president of the Algarve Intermunicipal Community (AMAL), acknowledged that “the process for the future desalination plant ‘does not cover the total cost that was proposed for the tender’”, information that, according to the platform, was “later confirmed by the Minister of the Environment”, Maria da Graça Carvalho.

PAS cites statements by António Miguel Pina in which the president of AMAL admits that “from the moment the infrastructure was designed until the moment the tender was launched, there has been an increase of almost 50% in costs”, making the approximately 50 million euros of financing guaranteed via the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) insufficient.

If this increase of around 50 million euros is reflected in consumers' bills, there will be “a huge increase in the amount to be paid for water”, PAS also stated, considering that, with this position, “it seemed that the entities had finally reached a logical conclusion that this investment was not worth it” due to the “high” cost-benefit ratio.

“In this situation, in particular, one can see the total lack of logic in the management of public money. Any business plan requires an economic feasibility study. If the plan was approved assuming a certain cost and now the cost has doubled, it is clear that the plan cannot be implemented, as it is no longer viable”, it argued.

PAS also criticised the “lack of logic” in the position taken by António Miguel Pina regarding the easing of consumption restrictions that had been applied and were revised by the current Government, while simultaneously stating that this measure is “balanced” and that the region needs a desalination plant to deal with the drought affecting the Algarve.

“After all, do we need water or not? Or do we only need it to justify the construction of the desalination plant?”, the platform asked, stressing that “AMAL cannot have double standards for the same problem”.

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