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The embargo launched today by the residents of Cabedelo, Viana do Castelo, to avoid the felling of trees foreseen in a work was carried out at 11.15 am, but the Chamber will invoke the public interest to resume the undertaking.
The extrajudicial embargo was announced around 9:00 am by the Cabedelo neighborhood association, which was present at a protest called through social networks against the killing of some 20 of the 170 bananas on the avenue that runs through that place. in the parish of Darque. in the construction works of the road accesses to the Viana do Castelo seaport.
At stake is the construction, started in February 2019, of an 8.8-kilometer highway that will connect the commercial port with the node of highway 28 (A28) in São Romão de Neiva, which will allow the removal of heavy vehicles Inside urban roads.
The new entrances, claimed for more than four decades, will have two 3.5-meter wide lanes.
The work is financed by the City Council of Viana do Castelo and the Administration of the Ports of Duero, Leixões and Viana do Castelo (APDL).
Today, after the request to seize the contract, the PSP agents present at the site informed the person in charge of the work about this legal process, but around 10:18 the workers tried to start the work, having been prevented by the people who hugged one of the trees
People hug the tree to avoid logging in Viana do Castelo
At approximately 11:15 a.m., the PSP and a representative of the Chamber of Viana do Castelo informed the neighborhood association that the embargo was going to be fulfilled, which ended up demobilizing the popular people who, from around 8:00 p.m. hours, he concentrated on the place.
“We were informed by the PSP and the representative of the Chamber that instructions had been given to suspend the progress of the work, that we could go rested and demobilize because the work was paralyzed. Initially, the Chamber alleged that it had not been formally informed of this embargo, but sent a representative to the place, which in itself is paradoxical, ”Mariana Rocha Neves told Lusa.
The lawyer, who lives in Cabedelo and is a member of the neighborhood association’s board of trustees, expressed “total openness to dialogue” with the Viana do Castelo City Council to find “a solution with less environmental and landscape impact.”
“We are available to speak with the City Council to find an alternative. Our objective is not to take the litigious route, but at this moment we have no other way to prevent this situation ”, he explained.
He also stressed that “the population is not against the construction of access to the seaport, but does not agree with the planned route since it involves the felling of trees whose classification was requested, more than two years ago, from the Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forests (ICNF) and there is still no answer ”.
Contacted by the Lusa agency, the mayor of Viana do Castelo, José Maria Costa, guaranteed that the municipality will proceed with the request to lift the embargo on the work.
“We will defend the lifting of the embargo invoking the relevant public interest in the work. It is a work that is not affecting any particular asset, it was the subject of public discussion, the layout itself is provided for in the Municipal Master Plan (PDM) and in an urbanization plan, having been subjected to an environmental impact assessment process . We comply with all legal requirements, ”he said.
According to the socialist mayor, the trees in question “are not classified and are not protected species”, so he considered that “there is no type of environmental attack.”
“This situation was perfectly identified, included in the municipal planning instruments, approved by the city council and the assembly. There is nothing to justify this embargo, ”the mayor reinforced.
On Friday, the municipality announced that today it begins the last phase of the three million euro contract aimed at improving access to the seaport.
In a statement, the Chamber stated that the work aims to “attract new economic activities to the area of influence of Oporto, reduce the operating costs inherent in the connection times of the Oporto roads to the main centers of activity, reduce noise and pollutant emissions, increase road safety, and contribute to decongest road traffic, eliminating heavy traffic from urban roads “.
The municipality also warned that the works will require traffic conditioning today and Tuesday to cut down some two dozen of the 170 trees (plantains) on the avenue.
With the aim of “minimizing the impact” of this tree felling, the municipality plans to invest 30 thousand euros in the planting of 200 native resinous and leafy trees with a large carbon reserve capacity, such as maritime pine and cork oak. over the next two years in various areas of Cabedelo.
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