ANMP requests a meeting from the Minister of Cohesion who has the advantage of knowing municipalities

“The minister is a former mayor, therefore, he knows the language of mayors, the difficulties and working conditions we have and the rigor and depth with which we deal with issues, having also been an interlocutor with the ANMP”, Luísa Salgueiro told Lusa, after being asked about the new holder of the Territorial Cohesion portfolio in the XXIV Constitutional Government, led by the social democrat Luís Montenegro.

Luísa Salgueiro, who also assumes leadership of the Municipal Council of Matosinhos, in the district of Porto, hopes that Manuel Castro Almeida will be in a position to advance in the process of decentralization of competences that has evolved “decisively and very significantly” in the last two years and that the ANMP “really wants to go deeper”.

To continue the themes on the agenda, namely the completion of decentralization processes in the areas of health, social action and education, local finance law, local elected official status, execution of the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) and the financing program for the rehabilitation of schools or water, waste and energy, the ANMP Board of Directors, which met today in Alenquer, in the Lisbon district, decided to request a meeting from the new minister, said the mayor.

“As soon as possible, we intend to meet with him in a constructive spirit of sharing, dialogue and construction to move forward on the topics we have on our agenda”, he highlighted.

Wishing Castro Almeida well and expressing full collaboration, the president of ANMP believes that this new Government “will continue the demanding work that was carried out recently”.

Manuel Castro Almeida, who was Secretary of State for Regional Development with responsibility for European funds between 2013 and 2015, when Pedro Passos Coelho was Prime Minister, takes office today as Deputy Minister and Territorial Cohesion.

Territorial Cohesion is a government area responsible for the supervision and execution of public policies regarding territorial management, namely the application of community funds, at a time when the new Portugal 2030 program is starting.

A ministry of Territorial Cohesion was a novelty introduced by the governments of António Costa and until now it was managed by PS minister Ana Abrunhosa, with the Regional Coordination and Development Commissions and the policies of local authorities, among others, under her jurisdiction.