The Socialist Party councilor at the Murtosa Municipal Council, Augusto Vidal Leite, questioned the Municipal Executive about the second amendment to the public water distribution and supply service concession contract of the Carvoeiro-Vouga Association of Municipalities, having abstained from voting on the proposal.
One of the main issues raised concerns the proposal to consider 2030 as the end of the concession, based on the fact that the total handover of the system only occurred in 2000. Augusto Vidal Leite criticized that this issue is being clarified only in 2026, when the moment of total handover was already known in 2012, at the time of the first amendment to the contract.
The Socialist councilor also questioned how the economic-financial equilibrium of the concession is being analyzed, arguing that not only the four years between 1996 and 2000 when the system operated partially should be considered, but also the period after 2012, during which the concession came to cover more municipalities, more consumers, and a significantly larger operating universe.
Augusto Vidal Leite defended that water is an essential public service and that its management must be under public responsibility, calling on the municipalities to begin preparing a public management solution. He justified his abstention with the doubts that remain about the duration of the concession, the economic-financial equilibrium, and the process, noting that the necessary documentation was made available only four days before the meeting.
