Lisbon, Oct. 30, 2024 (Lusa) - The mayor of Lisbon assured on Wednesday that an injunction will be presented to prevent the construction work to expand the capacity of Lisbon's Humberto Delgado Airport, as envisaged in a Socialist proposal approved with the PSD/CDS-PP votes against.
"Regarding the [proposal for a] restraining order, it has been forwarded to the services and it is the services that are preparing it," said Carlos Moedas, in response to PS councillor Inês Drummond, at the city council's public meeting.
At issue is the PS proposal, approved on 9 October with the votes against of the PSD/CDS-PP leadership (which governs without an absolute majority), for the council to proceed immediately with a restraining order "so that the government's desire to increase the number of flights in Lisbon (from 38 to 45 movements per hour) doesn't materialise".
"The construction work can begin, if it hasn't already, and so it's urgent that we move forward with this injunction. It's up to you, Mr Mayor, to set the pace so that this injunction can be filed quickly," said Inês Drummond.
The proposal approved by the council also calls for Portugal's attorney general's office to be informed of non-compliance with the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) legal regime, "since the government intends to go ahead with illegal works to expand the airport's capacity without this environmental assessment being carried out", the PS councillor said.
Another of the measures is to "take legal action against the country's airports managing company, ANA for non-compliance with the Noise Action Plan, bearing in mind that the concessionaire hasn't carried out soundproofing work on homes or equipment", and the council is obliged to provide support to anyone wishing to do independent soundproofing work.
At today's public meeting, the PS councillor emphasised that the legal actions against ANA "also have to move forward as a matter of urgency", asking if the complaint to the Public Prosecutor's Office is also pending before the services, but receiving no response.
"This one is very clear, it's quick, it's a report to the attorney general's office for non-compliance with the EIA regime. Mr Mayor, this one costs nothing," emphasised the socialist, reinforcing her call for a swift signal that the Lisbon city council “is on the side of the health of Lisbon residents and the quality of life in the city of Lisbon”.
Under the PS proposal, approved at the beginning of October, the council will also have to install a complementary and autonomous system for measuring noise and pollution levels in the Humberto Delgado Airport area.
On 25 September, the Lisbon city council unanimously supported the need to reduce the number of movements per hour at Humberto Delgado Airport (AHD), refusing any increase in airport capacity and calling for the definitive closure of this infrastructure "in less than 10 years".
At issue is a decision by the current government (PSD/CDS-PP/PPM), through Cabinet Resolution 67/2024, to increase airport capacity at AHD, in terms of the number of movements per hour, from 38 to 45, and in terms of the number of passengers, from 33.6 million to between 40 and 45 million.
The Lisbon city council executive is made up of 17 members, seven of whom are elected by the Novos Tempos coalition (PSD/CDS-PP/MPT/PPM/Aliança) - who are the only ones allocated portfolios and govern without an absolute majority - three from the PS, two from the PCP, three from Cidadãos Por Lisboa (elected by the PS/Livre coalition), one from Livre and one from BE.
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