THE LOOKOUT | Residents of Casais Lagartos are fed up with promises and demand basic sanitation

Residents of Casais Lagartos, Cartaxo municipality, are tired of waiting for around 20 years to have access to basic sanitation

The population of Casais Lagartos, in the parish of Pontével, is tired of promises over the last 20 years about the installation of basic sanitation in the locality. A group of residents attended the last session of the Cartaxo Municipal Assembly where they heard the mayor guarantee that basic sanitation will be a reality by next summer.

The residents of Casais Lagartos demand that basic sanitation in the locality becomes a reality and are tired of the promises made over the last two decades by successive executives of the Cartaxo Chamber. A group of residents attended the last municipal meeting and expressed their dissatisfaction with “in the 21st century” not having a sewage system. Alberto Taveira has lived in Casais Lagartos for around seven years and never thought he would go through this situation. “I have a septic tank that just needs to be connected to the sewage network. I’ve been hearing for seven years that the problem will be resolved soon, but so far nothing. We are all tired of this situation”, he told the O MIRANTE reporter who was in Casais Lagartos.
Júlio Amorim is 73 years old and has lived in Casais Lagartos since he was born. He remembers that in 2003 the infrastructure was put in place to make basic sanitation a reality. He hopes the matter will be resolved soon because he is tired of so many promises. “When it rains a lot, the water in the pit can overflow and the waste ends up in the streams, even if we don’t want it to. It is unacceptable that there are still people living in these conditions,” he says.
In March 2023, the president of the Parish Council of Pontével, Jorge Pisca, denounced that part of the domestic sewage in Casais Lagartos was flowing onto public roads in an attack on public health. With the construction of the ETAR (Waste Water Treatment Station) in Valada, it was expected that sewage from Casais Lagartos, which has more than 800 inhabitants, would be sent to this equipment, which did not happen.
Around 16 years ago, the basic sanitation network for Casais Lagartos was installed by Cartaxo City Council but was never connected. The intention was to build a WWTP for the population of Casais Lagartos, but time passed and then the municipality entered into a dispute with Cartagua, which prevented the connection of the Casais Lagartos sanitation system to the Valada WWTP, Jorge Pisca explained at the time to O LOOKOUT.

Basic sanitation will be a reality by next summer
The mayor of Cartaxo, João Heitor (PSD), guaranteed at the last municipal assembly that the executive is working to “by next summer” be able to connect the sewage system in Casais Lagartos. “We have an obligation to do it and we are doing it. Last week we received the final project to intervene in the existing sanitation network, but which needs to be renewed as it has not been used for 20 years. It is a very strong objective on our part to solve this problem”, stated the mayor, adding that until then the municipality will guarantee the cleaning of the septic tanks so that residents do not have to pay for the service.