Politicians from Alcantarilha, Pêra and Armação de Pêra have expressed their dissatisfaction with the lack of response from EDP after they repeatedly requested the replacement of broken streetlights and the installation of new ones in poorly lit sectors of their freguesias.
According to José João Marques, a Pêra councillor, there are more than 100 examples of streetlights not working in his area. “Residents are not happy and frequently approach us asking us to resolve the problem but, unfortunately, this does not lie within our jurisdiction. We can do nothing other than alert EDP, which we have done via many letters and telephone calls, but without success.”
In Alcantarilha the situation is similar. João Palma, president of the Alcantarilha Committee, claims that there are 18 street lights out of action in the main square. “We’ve been requesting their replacement for a long time now and the answer is always the same; that they will be replaced within 10 days. But nothing ever happens,” says Palma.
The politician went on to give a typical example of how a broken streetlight can affect the local population, citing an 80-year-old woman who, because of the broken light outside her home, has difficulty locating the lock in her door at night – a situation that Palma describes as “typical” of the problems facing residents. Meanwhile, a spokesman from EDP’s public relations department said that the company was unaware of the seriousness of the situation, but promised that action would be taken.
