Key Benefits:
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DRAFT LAW NO. 63 /XI
REPEAL DL NO. 188/2008, OF September 23, WHICH INTRODUCED
CHANGES IN THE BASES OF THE CONTRACT FOR THE GRANTING OF THE RIGHT TO
OPERATION, IN PUBLIC SERVICE REGIME, OF THE TERMINAL
PORT OF ALCANTARA
Exhibition of reasons
The Dec. -Law No. 287/84, of August 23 came to authorize the Administration of the Port of Lisbon
" to be hired with company after public tender, the granting of the right of exploitation
on public service scheme of a container terminal in the port facilities
of Alcantara Sul ", being the" granting bestoed after homologation in Council of
Ministers. "
It further stipulated that diploma that the concession term is 20 years, and the
Administration upon new contract, establish a new operating regime,
for one or more periods of 5 years.
The Dec.-Law No. 298/93 of August 28, 1993 came to establish the legal regime of the
port operations, providing for the granting of public service, which to be carried out
should go through the award by public tender, under the conditions of the
programme and notebook drawn up by the port authorities and the
ministers of the sectoral tutelage in accordance with the general bases of the concessions
established by decree-law.
For its part, Dec. -Law No. 324/94, of December 30 came " laying the groundwork
general of the concessions of the public service of moving loads on the quays and
port terminals, as provided for in Dec. -Law No. 298/93 of August 28,
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determining in its Base XIII that " the contract is bestoed by a given time frame,
not more than 30 years ".
Ora the Dec.-Law No. 188/2008 of September 23, changing the bases of the contract of
granting of the right of exploitation, in public service arrangements, of the terminal
port of Alcantara, concretely the base XII, has determined that the concession
will vigorate until December 31, 2042.
The Court of Auditors states in its Report of September 27, 2007, with the para.
23 /2007-2ª Section, Audits to Port Administrations on its page 8 that " a
APL-Administration of the Port of Lisbon, leader in the general cargo movement
containerized, features disaffected capacities installed and available, for
to cope with any growths of the container movement. "
It was further alerted to the Court of Auditors in the same report for the " 30-year limit
tax by law " and for the need to comply with it, pointing out that the no
compliance with the law is in opposition " to the benefits of free competition for closing the
market for excessively long periods of time ".
And yet, to the fact that the national load-bearing capacity
additional container available to be from 10,395 thousand Tons, which, knowing
that the move in 2006 was 5,198 thousand Tons in Lisbon allows to complete
that the available national surplus capacity is more than 50%.
Add to that the APSS-Port Administration of Setúbal and Sesimbra, neighbouring
Lisbon has used only 5% of its capacity relative to the container cargo, and
that the Port of Sines has received high investments, allegedly related to
the intention to pick up container cargo for that port.
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In the meantime came the Government to ensure the " legality of the concession up to 2042 of the terminal of
containers of Alcantara à Liscont ", with the justification of" not being in cause to
conclusion of new contract " to realize an extension for 27 years, from where
results that the duration of the grant will be so of 57 years without existence of a
public contest.
The Nova Alcantara project announced last April by the Government provides for among others
works the burial of the Belt Line and the construction of a single station with
underground access, the connection of that line to the line of Cascais through a tunnel, the
interconnected to the Metro of Lisbon and works to make the TCA a deep-sea port, and still the
creation of an accustomed area and operation of barges, ensuring the Government in its
presentation that everything will be completed by 2013.
It was underlined in the parliamentary initiative the strangeness of this urgency in the extension
of a concession in absentia of the most elementary rules and conclusions of the Court of
Accounts, the injury to the area with the creation of an imtransposable wall, when the
own Chairman of the APL-Administration of the Port of Lisbon at a seminar in
Brussels cited by the media in October referred to " the biggest problem of the
Port of Lisbon is not of capacity, and yes of acessibilities " , informing that the
Agreement of the new concession with Liscont would be signed in that month.
The Parliamentary Appreciation of the PSD as well as that of the CFP, and the PSD Draft Law in the
a sense of retroacting the cessation of effects in the term of the Decree-Law No.
188/2008, of September 23, would come to be rejected by the Socialist majority with
exception of a deputy.
Thereafter, came the Court of Auditors to refer in its dated audit report
of July 21, 2009-and referring to the concession contract concluded in the meantime
by the Administration of the Port of Lisbon (APL) by extending the concession to Liscont of the
Alcantara Container Terminal (TCA)-which " does not connance or a good
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business, not a good example, for the Public Sector, in terms of good management
financial and appropriate protection of public interests ".
The Ministry's own Financial Controller mentioned that " the risk of fragilizing the
image and the financial situation of the Concepdent, for granted conditions
too generous and onerous for it, increases in the current crisis juncture. In the
unavailability of private funding for PPPs, it would be preferable to resume the
public investment in the PIDDAC scheme, than to eternalize the present conditions
onerous. ", as quoted from the said Court of Auditors report.
Official container movement statistics do not help to justify the
precipitous decision: " In 2008 the movement of containers lowered to the level of
2002.
In 2009, in the first quarter, the Terminal lost the two main lines of
navigation that served the port-the CSAV Norasia and the CMA-CMG/Evergreen. Portugal and
the world suffer an international crisis that has dragged on since 2007. The statistics
officers referring to the first 7 months of the year 2009 evidence breaks face to the
previous year.
It is therefore incomprehensible in the eyes of all the justification of the hasty extension
of the grant by the Government, based on dubious studies that bet on the increase
of expected movement. "
Considering that current all the fundamentals of criticism are maintained
invoked and that in summary the said contract does not serve the public interest, it matters
proceed to the revocation, with retroactive effectiveness, of the Decree-Law n. 188/2008, from 23 of
September.
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So, in the applicable constitutional and regimental terms, the Deputies below
signed, from the Parliamentary Group of the Social Democratic Party, present the following
draft law:
Article 1.
Abrogation standard
The Decree-Law No. 188/2008 of September 23 is repealed.
Article 2.
Entry into force on the day following that of its publication and it produces effects on the dates of
entry into force of Decree-Law No 188/2008.
Palace of S. Bento, ___ from November 2009
The Assemblymember (s) of the GP-PSD,