The Intermunicipal Community of the Leiria Region (CIMRL) presented 10 proposals for the 2025 State Budget (OE2025), including the reinforcement of health services, in order to “reverse the history of public disinvestment in the region.”
“Strengthening primary and emergency health services is a priority objective and aims to guarantee rapid and quality access to health services”, reads a press release from the CIMRL after the meetings between the mayors and the parliamentary groups of the PSD, PS and Chega, and the deputies elected by the Leiria constituency, on Tuesday, in the Assembly of the Republic, to present the proposals.
According to the same note, the mayors defended, for example, “an increase in the number of health professionals in health centers and municipal hospitals, with incentives for doctors and nurses who work in more remote areas.”
The document, through which concerns are expressed about the “strong disinvestment by the central administrationwhich is reflected in the insufficiency of transport and mobility infrastructure, the degradation of health and education services, and the lack of support for affordable housing and social cohesion policies”, lists proposals divided into three areas (accessibility and sustainable mobility ; education and competitiveness; and housing, health and social cohesion).
“Of the requested measures, the proposal to reevaluate tolls and the completion of the structuring of road and railway axes stands out,” said the CIMRL, recommending the inclusion of “a specific article that promotes the exemption of tolls in the call Batalha Variant”. (Highway 19) and in the section of the Complementary Route (IC) 36 — Highway 8 (Leiria ring road and connection with Marinha Grande Sul).
The CIMRL also insisted on connecting IC9 with Highway 1, requalifying IC8, modernizing the Western Railway Line and advancing the second phase of the Lisbon-Oporto high-speed line to 2026, “of the connecting section between Soure, Leiria and Carregado. (including the Leiria station), designed to begin operating only after 2030.”
HE expansion and decarbonization of the public transport networkand infrastructure for good mobility (bicycles and pedestrians) are also among the measures.
In the field of education, municipal representatives expressed their support for the creation of a higher school at the Leiria Polytechnic in Pombal and highlighted the “need for measures to attract and retain talent.”
The CIMRL exemplified this with the launch of “an incentive program for young professionals and recent graduates, with subsidies for their installation in inland areas,” and also with the need to implement scholarships and subsidies for university students in strategic areas, with the commitment to work in the region after graduation.”
In this area is the modernization of schools, and training and vocational training programs.
“The creation of a social housing rehabilitation program in the most needy municipalities, with improvements in energy efficiency and comfort in existing buildings, as well as increasing incentives for the construction of affordable housing for young people and low-income families , with tax reductions for real estate developers who adopt sustainable construction practices”, the CIMRL also proposes, in addition to programs to support social cohesion and active aging.
Another proposal, already presented by the CIMRL in the discussion of previous state budgets, is the National Forestry Museum, designed for Marinha Grande and created by law 25 years ago.
For the CIMRL, this should be “a national strategic commitment, given the relevance of the forest for the economy and the importance of promoting actions that develop technical knowledge and promote research.”
“This initiative would reinforce the prevention of rural fires and would enhance the Portuguese forest from a cultural, social and economic point of view.”
CIMRL integrates the municipalities of Alvaiázere, Ansião, Batalha, Castanheira de Pera, Figueiró dos Vinhos, Leiria, Marinha Grande, Pombal, Pedrógão Grande and Porto de Mós.
Source: Observadora
