A determined landowner/producer is taking a former banker to court over a dam which he claims is under construction illegally, threatening the livelihoods of 100 workers.
According to national tabloid Correio da Manhã, former BIC director Fernando Teles is already in hot water with the local GNR over the start of work on his dam project.
In the ‘banking valley’ of Alcácer do Sal – a short hop from former BES boss Ricardo Salgado’s holiday home in the troubled resort of Comporta – one dam is being built on a line of water that will effectively stop flow to an olive grove where Manuel Magalhães produces quality olive oil, explains CM.
“Cutting water flow will threaten a 100 jobs,” Magalhães told the paper.
The case has also been taken up by Jornal de Notícias, which claims two dams are at issue, while Teles maintains he is only repairing infrastructures that “existed on his property when he bought it”.
JN suggests that Teles’ prosecution by GNR police is for a “very serious” infraction, however.
The wrangle continues, and while Magalhães has his embargo lodged in Évora court, no further construction work can continue.
