During the private meeting of the municipal executive, the leader of PSD/Matosinhos, Bruno Pereira, warned that the person responsible for the 36-month construction of the continuing care center, who holds the surface right to those public lands, has been in "contractual default since April".

In a statement sent to Lusa, the social democrat stressed that since the person responsible did not start the project, nor did they comply with the works within the established deadline, "they are in contractual default", which implies the payment of 1,000 euros per day of delay.

"In fact, we regret the inaction and silence of Luísa Salgueiro [Mayor of Matosinhos]", said Bruno Pereira.

The president of PSD/Matosinhos added that the local authority, in the district of Porto, and the State have already had "ruinous expenses", amounting to five million euros, with those lands.

The case dates back to 2008 when the Cooperativa Realidade Social, created a year earlier, benefited from a 50-year land concession and municipal funding for the construction of a social center, in an investment of four million euros, he explained.

In addition to the funding from the council, the cooperative also received a subsidy from the Regional Administration of the North (ARS-N), he said.

Bruno Pereira also recalled that, in 2015, the construction company took legal action against the cooperative and the council, and that, initially, the municipality contested, saying it was not a party to the construction contract.

Later, and still in the same year, the local authority decided to make an agreement in court with the construction company and assume the cooperative's debt in the amount of 2.2 million euros, as well as its debt in the finances of 676 thousand euros, he added.

"Despite the PSD always voting against it, the truth is that the Portuguese State lost 4.6 million euros and the aforementioned cooperative was dissolved and liquidated in 2015", he stressed.

In 2020, the Matosinhos Council launched a public tender for the construction of a continuing care center, contracting, in the following year, a surface right for a period of 50 years that provided for the payment of an annual rent of 76 thousand euros, he pointed out.

"The works for the construction of a continuing care center should have been carried out in 36 months and they were not", accused Bruno Pereira.

Contacted by Lusa, the council stressed that it is acting in accordance with what is foreseen in the promoter's contract, having already notified him of the default situation.

"In addition to the need to enforce the contract, the municipality's great desire is to see a social response grow there that does not yet exist in the territory of Matosinhos, since a continuing care unit with more than 100 beds is planned for that plot", he stressed.

The local authority clarified that the promoter has already licensed the architectural and specialty project for the construction of that facility, but the opportunity arose to apply for the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) and the approval of the application delayed the process.

"The application for European funds has been approved and the local authority is confident that the works will start soon", he concluded.

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