A council worker in Gondomar has been caught red-handed demanding money in return for construction licences – and now the council has appealed for anyone pressured by corrupt officials to come forwards.
“Our appeal is simple”, said mayor Marco Martins on Friday. “Those of you have been victims should inform us and we guarantee that we will act accordingly.”
Issuing a press release entitled “Corruption: whoever has been approached should let us know”, Martins stressed this wasn’t a witchhunt of council personnel, rather a sign that the council wanted to change “in the name of rigour, clarity and transparency”.
Rumours of corruption among council officials had been rife in the town for years, he said, and people were fed up with the borough’s “inertia”.
This latest coup for transparency followed a PJ police investigation in which the 51-year-old official was reportedly trailed secretly.
Said TVI’s website, police arrived to witness the man was demanding money in exchange for the approval of a construction project, and were able to arrest him ‘on the spot’.
The official was due in court on Friday.
