Speaking to Lusa, Minister Manuel Castro Almeida explained that the Administrative and Fiscal Court of Castelo Branco (TAFCB) “resolved the pending legal issues” and that the ruling “is favourable” to the progress of that work in the municipality of Crato, district of Portalegre.

“Secondly, all necessary authorsations and licenses were granted by the Portuguese Environment Agency and the Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests,” he added.

According to the minister, from the point of view of procedures, authorisations, licenses and opinions, “all obstacles have been removed” so that the work on the Crato Multipurpose Hydraulic Use Project, also known as the Pisão Dam, can move forward.

“Now all that is left is for a contract to be signed between the State and the association of municipalities so that, from then on, the works can begin”, he added, noting that the signing could happen “in the next few days”.

“Incorrect”

Contacted by Lusa, José Janela, from the Portalegre regional branch of the environmental association Quercus, one of the non-governmental organisations responsible for an action that led the TAFCB to annul the Environmental Impact Statement (DIA), considers that the Government's statements regarding this matter are “incorrect”.

“The TAFCB ordered that the case be sent to the Southern Central Administrative Court for consideration of the appeals, but without annulling the decision that ruled in favor of the environmental non-governmental organisations,” he said.

Faced with these statements from the person responsible for Quercus in Portalegre, the Minister for Territorial Cohesion explained that he was basing his statements solely on the information provided by official services.

“The information I have is that the court ruled in favor of the State’s claim. I have not seen the documents, I am only basing my decision on the information that the services provided,” he stressed.

The Alto Acre Intermunicipal Community is responsible for executing the project.

In February, the Portuguese Environment Agency filed an appeal to contest the court decision of 23 January that annulled the DIA of the Pisão Dam, following the action brought by environmental non-governmental organisations of the so-called C7 Coalition.

Environmental organisations revealed at the time that the TAFCB issued a ruling annulling the DIA integrated in the project's Single Environmental Title (TUA), issued in September 2022, having, following this decision, ordered the Portuguese Environment Agency to record the annulment ruling in the TUA.

After this case, and regardless of the court decision, the Government announced that several projects would be removed from the Recovery and Resilience Plan, including the Pisão Dam.

The project's financing was transferred to the State Budget and went from 151 million euros to more than 222 million, setting the deadline for execution of all components in 2027.