FRANCISCO Guerreiro, the President of the Junta de Freguesia of Paderne, is protesting about the isolation of the village and demanding the fulfilment of the promise to construct a link to the Via do Infante (A22).
More than two years after the opening of the A2, the road which links Lisbon with the Algarve and split the parish in half, residents are demanding that the promise made by António Guterres’ socialist government is honoured.
When the construction of the last section of the A2 was completed (between Messines and the A22), the residents of Paderne protested, without success, against the road plan that divided the parish. They did, however, manage to obtain a guarantee that the village would be given an access point to the Via do Infante.
“I fought very hard for this and I will not give up,” Guerreiro confirmed at the last parish council meeting, where residents voted unanimously for “a motion of dissatisfaction” and they agreed that practical ways in which “to pressure MPs” should be put into place. As a result, the Junta de Freguesia is sending official letters to the government, MPs and the President of the Republic, Jorge Sampaio.
“We deserve some benefits as we are strangled between the Via do Infante and the A2,” said the President of the Junta de Paderne, who is worried about the prospect of tolls for the Via do Infante. “If the tolls are introduced the situation will be even worse, although it is unlikely that they will be constructed in a location that connects the village with the Via do Infante”, he confirmed.
The existence of a link with the A22 would offer benefits for the village in economic terms and in the development of tourism, claimed Francisco Guerreiro, bearing in mind that the village boasts “lots of hospitality, good food, a working windmill, Arab churches and an Arab castle”. Paderne Castle was actually constructed during the Arab occupation. The parish of Paderne has 5,000 inhabitants, of which 2,700 are voters. Meanwhile, the Communist Party MP, Ângela Sabino, has made a formal demand in parliament this month for official explanations concerning the improvement of access to the village and demanded the stipulation of an exact time period to be given for the work to take place.
