Algarve Situation Report Wednesday 22nd June 2022

Murder Suspect is held in Prison pending his trial

The Portimão Court decided to apply the coercive measure of preventive detention to a man indicted for committing a crime of murder, in Lagos, following a drug-related argument.

The decision was taken by the Portimão Criminal Investigation Court at the end of the first judicial interrogation of the detainee, a 46-year-old man, suspected of killing a 43-year-old man, the Public Ministry (MP) released in a statement.

The court agreed with the measure proposed by the Public Ministry, and the investigation is now in the hands of the Portimão department of the Southern Directorate of the Judiciary Police ( PJ ), the note reads.

This security force detained a man last Tuesday in the Lagos area on “strong suspicions” of committing a crime of qualified murder.

According to the Public Prosecutor’s Office at the time, in the late afternoon of June 14, 2022, “inside a vacant house in Lagos, following a drug-related argument, the detainee armed with a glass hit the victim’s neck, after which, he grabbed a stick with nails on the end and struck her on the head, causing her death”.

New Train Link to Lisbon from VRSA announced

A new link to Lisbon by connecting the railway line with the University and the Airport on the Olhão-Faro-Loulé axis was announced this week..

The president of CCDR/Algarve, José Apolinário, considered earlier this week that the requalification and electrification of the Algarve Railway Line (in progress) and the implementation of the Intercidades Vila Real de Santo António – Tavira – Olhão – Faro to Lisbon in 2024 are two of the main priorities of the Algarve 2030 Strategy.

Speaking at a seminar on mobility promoted by AMAL, in what he considered to be contributions to the region’s political position on the matter, the president of the CCDR also added that the modernization of rolling stock on the Algarve Line, the renovation of the southern railway line between Tunis and Torre Vã and the replacement of the concurrence on the railway line in Tunis.

He also mentioned the implementation of a feasibility study for the Algarve Andalusia Connection (Faro Airport/Seville Airport), which already has a public declaration of support from AMAL, NERA and Andalusia. He stressed that the review of PROTAL should provide for and safeguard that rail corridor.

With regard to the highway, it prioritised the conclusion of the renegotiation process of the Algarve Litoral sub-concession.

In this regard, he recalled that in 2021, Infraestruturas de Portugal was ordered to make provisional payments to the sub-concessionaire of around 30 million euros and a monthly amount of 1.2 million euros to the concessionaire Rotas do Algarve Litoral, SA.

The decision of the main arbitration action is awaited, following the review that took place initially during the intervention of the Troika and then in the amendment to the contract with a visa refused by the Court of Auditors in 2018. 48.9 million euros have already been paid and the amount requested is 445 million.

Praia da Rocha will have video surveillance and more patrols this summer.

From June 21st, on the first day of summer 2022, Portimão City Council announces that security measures in Praia da Rocha will be reinforced.

Also during this week, the contract will be signed for the installation of video surveillance in the municipality of Portimão, in particular in Praia da Rocha, where it is planned to install 32 cameras in various areas of this seaside resort, namely along Avenida Tomás Cabreira.

After this Tuesday’s contacts with the Minister of Internal Administration, President Isilda Gomes was immediately assured that the PSP Intervention Corps will remain in Praia da Rocha, a fact that the municipality welcomes.

The municipality also appeals to entrepreneurs in that area, namely those in bars and nightlife establishments, to “maintain scrupulous compliance with opening hours, thus preventing them from having to be reduced. It is also called for the conduct and rules for the sale of alcohol to be strictly complied with”, says the municipality in a statement.

“The Portimão City Council is closely following the evolution of this situation, and will not hesitate to take more drastic measures and positions if justified”, concludes the note.

Algarve will have a unique intermodal pass.

The Algarve regional and municipal transport authorities and five public transport companies in the region signed a memorandum of understanding this Monday to work on the creation of a single intermodal pass, said the president of the Algarve Intermunicipal Community.

The expectation is that the single intermodal pass “will be a reality in the first half of next year”, with the Algarve being the third region in the country, after Lisbon and Porto, to work to create a single pass for all transport operators. regional audiences, said António Pina.

The president of the Algarve Intermunicipal Community ( AMAL ) was speaking on the sidelines of the signing of the document, within the scope of the seminar “The challenges of mobility”, held today at the Escola Superior de Hotelaria e Turismo, in Faro .

According to that official, the objective “is to standardise the purchase of a pass” and, for that, the entities that sign the memorandum undertake “to work and provide information” so that there is “only one pass for the various public transport that operate in the region”.

The memorandum includes AMAL, as the Regional Transport Authority, CP, which operates the railway, and then the other seven municipal transport entities in Albufeira, Faro, Lagos, Loulé, Olhão, Portimão and Tavira.

The same source considered that this memorandum will “mobilise efforts for concentration between the different public transport services” and expressed the wish that AMAL, in the future, “will also become the railway transport authority”, in order to be able to define forms of interconnection with road transport.

“Public transport is now increasingly on the agenda of every family. If until some time ago, the issue of public transport was seen from the point of view of climate action and the reduction of pollution by the [less] individual use of each one’s cars, now it has another dimension”, he noted.

According to the mayor of Olhão, the current price of fuel “leads families to realise that public transport is perhaps the only way to relieve the family budget in terms of mobility”.

This new reality places, according to António Pina, “mobility in the priorities of municipal management and government management”.

Stressing that it is still too early to talk about a final cost for this intermodal pass, which will begin to be defined when the work carried out by all the actors evolves, António Pina considered that “the union of the different modules is the only one that can bring some efficiency to the system. ”.

“All [operators] provide public service and what is intended is to gain efficiency in this public service and effectiveness”, he said, adding that “the passenger is the same, the user is the same” and it is necessary to “make your life easier, providing reliable information, making the most effective connections possible and with the convenience of using the same pass for everything”. 

In addition to these entities, the road transport companies Vizur, EVA Transportes, PXM – Transportes Rodoviários Urbanos de Faro, Translagos and Sandbus also participated in the signing of the memorandum.

GNR detains 26 people over a long weekend

 During this period, the GNR detained 12 people for driving with excessive alcohol, eight for drug trafficking, four for not having a legal licence to drive, three for possession of a prohibited weapon, one for domestic violence and one for theft.

The GNR detained 26 people in the Algarve region during the mini-vacation period provided by the holiday last Thursday, most of them for driving with excessive alcohol and drug trafficking, it was announced today.

In a statement, the GNR added that, between Wednesday and Sunday, it launched an operation “especially focused on the flow of people that took place this past weekend”, reinforcing its patrol on the main roads, bathing and entertainment areas. night.

Thus, during this period, the GNR detained 12 people for driving with excessive alcohol, eight for drug trafficking, four for not having a legal licence to drive, three for possession of a prohibited weapon, one for domestic violence and one for theft.

According to the GNR, 1,182 doses of cannabis and 285 doses of cocaine were also seized.

Covid 19- Algarve registers 4,523 cases and 11 deaths between June 7th and 13th

According to the DGS weekly epidemiological bulletin, compared to the previous week, there were 43,534 fewer cases of infection.

In the region, there were 4,523 infections by SARS-CoV-2 (minus 1,013) and 11 deaths (minus five) between the 7th and 13th of June, according to data released this Friday by the Directorate-General for Health ( DGS ).

Portugal recorded, between the same period, 114,410 infections with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, 256 deaths associated with covid-19 and a decrease in hospitalizations in wards and intensive care.

According to the DGS weekly epidemiological bulletin, compared to the previous week, there were 43,534 fewer cases of infection, with a reduction of 41 deaths in the comparison between the two periods.

As for hospital occupancy in mainland Portugal due to covid-19, the DGS started to release data on hospitalizations for the Monday before the report was published on Fridays.

Based on this criterion, the bulletin indicates that, last Monday, 1,896 people were hospitalised, 95 less than on the same day of the previous week, with 98 patients in intensive care units, less 10.

According to the DGS bulletin, the seven-day incidence was, on Monday, at 1,111 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, having registered a decrease of 28% compared to the previous week.

By region, Lisbon and Vale do Tejo recorded 50,786 cases between June 7 and 13, 18,368 less than in the previous period, and 79 deaths, 19 less.

The Central region accounted for 15,773 cases (minus 6,336) and 63 deaths (minus four) and the North totaled 30,295 cases of infection (minus 15,227) and 75 deaths (minus eight).

In Alentejo, 4,341 positive cases were recorded (2,379 less) and 17 deaths (five less).

As for the autonomous regions, the Azores had 4,571 new infections between 7 and 13 June (153 more) and three deaths (four less), while Madeira recorded 4,121 cases in those seven days (364 less) and eight deaths (four more), according to DGS data.

According to the report, the age group between 40 and 49 years old was the one with the highest number of cases at seven days (19,147), followed by people between 50 and 59 years old (17,829), while children up to 9 years old were the group with the fewest infections (6,551) this week.

Of the total admissions, 768 were elderly over 80 years of age, followed by the age group from 70 to 79 years (459) and from 60 to 69 years (229).

The DGS also recorded 21 admissions in the age group of children up to 9 years old, 10 from 10 to 19 years old, 18 from 20 to 29 years old, 40 from 30 to 39 years old, 67 from 40 to 49 years old and 110 from 50 to 59 years old. .

The bulletin also mentions that, in these seven days, 186 people over 80 years old died, 56 people between 70 and 79 years old, 10 between 60 and 69 years old, three between 50 and 59 years old and one between 20 and 29 years old.

Regarding vaccination against covid-19, the bulletin states that 93% of the population has the complete vaccination, 64% of those eligible the first booster dose and 45% of the elderly aged 80 years or older the second dose to reinforce immunisation against the virus. SARS-CoV-2.

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