"We have stated that we are not satisfied with the speed at which the process is taking place", he said, claiming that there has been "some progress in 2023 in the work that began to remove contaminated soil, but then it was interrupted".

Artur Lima was speaking to Lusa about the 51st meeting of the Permanent Bilateral Commission between Portugal and the United States, in which he participated on Tuesday in Washington, D.C.

At issue is the contamination of soil and aquifers in Praia da Vitória, on Terceira Island, caused by the storage and handling of fuels and other pollutants by the US Air Force at Lajes Air Base.

Identified in 2005 by the Americans themselves, the contamination was confirmed in 2009 by the National Civil Engineering Laboratory (LNEC), which has been monitoring the decontamination process since 2012.

According to the PSD/CDS/PPM government official, the Americans have guaranteed that they will resume decontamination work in 2024 at two identified sites.

"They have already neutralized one pipeline and will neutralize another that was discovered, to prevent it from continuing to leak and then remove all the contaminated soil. These are small steps that are being taken, but they make us satisfied with the progress," he added.

Artur Lima stressed that "for the past three years [when the PSD/CDS/PPM Regional Government took office] significant steps have been taken in the decontamination" of Terceira Island.

The government official said that the Americans have agreed to conduct a study on the impact of contamination on water flow and "are taking mitigation and soil remediation measures".

"We have taken very positive steps. There has been no regression in the issue of decontamination. There may have been delays, I grant you that, but there is an openness on the part of the Americans to the problem, there is an openness on the part of the Republic to the problem, and there is obviously the insistence of the Government of the Azores on this matter," he stressed.

"These are slow processes. It is not done from one year to the next and it has been at a standstill for years," he insisted.

In terms of labor, in addition to a 4.7% general increase in the salaries of all workers at Lajes Air Base, which the vice president of the executive had already revealed, a solution was found for the compression of the salary table.

"A percentage will be applied between each level, which can go up to 3.6%, so that there is no compression of the tables and, for example, a worker who enters now does not earn as much or even more than a worker who has been working for nine or 10 years," he explained.

For several years, one of the unions representing Portuguese workers at Lajes Air Base has been warning that there are people with salaries below the regional minimum wage.

Artur Lima assured that, with the agreement now reached, the problem "will be solved for two or three years" and, if the situation repeats itself, there is a "commitment to return to negotiations".

"An agreement in principle has been reached, which will be formalized in the coming weeks, which provides that no worker will earn less than the regional minimum wage. And it provides for increases above the regional minimum wage, according to the position on the salary table, respecting seniority," he said.

The pay tables at Lajes Air Base are updated in July and the minimum wage in Portugal is revised in January.

The vice president of the Azorean executive guaranteed that "no worker, during the year 2024, will receive less, in all months, than the regional minimum wage", because the increase will have retroactive effects to January.

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