PS questions Santa Cruz’s €13.2m loan plan
Madeira GuideThe PS says residents should be told the cost, timetable and 20-year financial burden of works proposed under Santa Cruz's planned loan.
The PS questioned the JPP executive's investment strategy at the Santa Cruz Municipal Assembly on 28 September, over a planned €13.2 million loan to finance 11 investments in the municipality over 20 years.
PS municipal deputy António Alves said the party supports investment but questioned the planning, execution and repeated announcements of projects. He cited works at Praia dos Reis Magos and the requalification of Praça de Táxis do Caniço as projects discussed by the municipal executive for several years.
According to Alves, the Reis Magos intervention was presented as a structuring project in 2017, had a planned allocation of €360,000 in 2021 and now has €2 million allocated in 2026. He said the Praça de Táxis do Caniço requalification and an intervention in the town centre have been in municipal planning since 2021 and now carry a planned investment of €4 million.
Alves said €6 million of the proposed €13.2 million loan is intended for those two interventions. He said the issue was not whether Santa Cruz should invest, but why repeatedly announced projects remain unfinished and now return linked to a long-term loan.
The PS said residents should know the cost of the works, their start and completion deadlines, and the charges the municipality will bear over the next 20 years. The party said it would continue to support investment and structural works, while demanding planning, transparency, financial rigour and execution capacity.
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Madeira Guide
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