The PSD of Santo Tirso filed this Thursday a complaint with the Public Ministry (MP) against the concessionaire of the ESSE parking lot for the amount of the fees it currently charges, which the president of the municipality, Ricardo Pereira, described Lusa as “shameful ”.
“The new tariff is not the one that is practiced, since it foresees the pay 50 to 60 cents per hour and not the 75 to 80 centsfor the same period, who have been charged and whose evidence was sent to the MP”, added the social democrat, referring to ESSE is charging more than the established in the new rate and that should only be applied after a vote in the municipal bodies.
The concession of the parking lot to the ESSE company was approved by the Socialist Chamber in 2018, but due to the complaints presented by the competitors in the public tender, its execution was postponed.
In 2020, with the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic, the municipality made parking free, so the proposal to change the concession, specified by the municipality, was only approved at the town hall session on February 17, 2022 and validated in the Municipal Assembly a week later, scheduled for June.
Calling the situation in the municipality a “caricature”, the Social Democratic leader justified the presentation of the complaint today in the MP to “coincides” with the approval of the new rate which will take place in the afternoon chamber session.
In the publication on its Facebook page, the PSD/Santo Tirso denounces that “the concessionaire, which is in charge of the management, maintenance, operation, inspection and collection of parking lots in the streets and parks provided for in the contract with the City Council, It has been charging the payment of fees since June 1, 2022.”
“It just so happens that for this type of parking there is a municipal table in force that stipulates a maximum amount to be charged per hour of only 0.40 cents per hour,” but “from June 1 to today, the ESSE did not refrain of charging amounts well above those allowed by the aforementioned table, in this case, amounts around 0.50 euros/hour or 0.80 euros/hour, depending on the area where you park and also applying administrative infractions”.
In reaction to Lusa, the administrator of the ESSE, César Dias, assured that the company “acted in accordance with current legislation and the laws that govern the code of public contracts and the exploitation of concessions, therefore, there is no illegality”.
Referring to the party’s post on the social network, he said it is “out of context and there are no 80-cent fees, as the highest there is is 60 cents.”
“We are coordinated with the camera, in the same sense, and there is no illegality,” reiterated the company official.
On April 5, a source from the municipality justified the new tariff to Lusa by the need to install “state-of-the-art parking meters” to replace the current ones, “which often broke down”, in the downtown area of the city, where the “hourly price will rise” by 50%, from 40 cents to 60 cents, and in the streets adjacent to the center, called the first corona zone, which will cost 50 cents/hour.
On the same date, and regarding the new rate, the source also said that “it is below that of most of the municipalities of the Metropolitan Area of Porto and neighboring municipalities”, and also that it appears in “response to an old demand from merchants, to promote billing for parking in the downtown area of the city”.
Instead, the municipality led by the socialist Alberto Costa will maintain free parking in Parque 5 de Outubro, Parque da Rua Nova da Telheira, Parque Superior da Câmara Municipal, Parque do Complexo Desportivo Municipal and Parque da Feira, which will soon be parking lots ordered, in addition to the parking lot next to the Citizen’s Store, the source said.
Source: Observadora
