Today, the Lisbon Chamber unanimously assumed the relocation of 25 families residing in the 31 occupied housing properties that were expropriated for the execution of the General Drainage Plan, through the celebration of supported refuge contracts.

“In parallel with the expropriation processes taking place at the Municipal Heritage Management Department, the Municipal Housing and Local Development Department initiated a survey of properties to be expropriated”, in which “31 occupied housing properties were identified, of which only a few households are interested in the scope of the expropriation process”, reads in the proposal by the councilor for Housing and Municipal Works, Filipa Roseta (PSD), approved in a private meeting of the executive council.

Rehousing will be ensured “through the conclusion of a lease contract under the supported leasing regime” and the formalization of that act dependent on the administrative takeover of the properties, within the scope of the expropriation process taking place at the Municipal Directorate of Heritage Management.

A source from the municipal executive told Lusa that “no resident is the owner” of the 31 properties, but all households residing in these houses have “high socioeconomic needs”, so the chamber’s role is to “provide rehousing in municipal public property” , seeking to ensure that this is ensured in areas close to the places where they currently live.

“The Lisbon City Council is taking care of everything in order to defend the public interest”, said the same city council source, explaining that the issue of compensation does not arise in this situation, since there are no resident owners.

This measure, social benefits support “25 households with socioeconomic needs and who do not have property rights”, in which the relocation should take place “soon”, so that the works of the General Drainage Plan of Lisbon (PGDL) advance, and ” will be definitive”, indicated a source for the executive, adding that most families did not pay rent.

With the 2016-2030 execution period, the PGDL is “the invisible work” that will protect the city from the effects of climate change, namely to prevent flooding, allow the reuse of water and reduce the bill for drinking water, including construction of two large tunnels, one between Monsanto and Santa Apolónia and another between Chelas and Beato.

“The tunnel infrastructure will have a strong impact on the surface in specific geographical areas, which determined the need for the total or partial expropriation of 13 plots, with emphasis on Beco do Belo, numbers 2 to 12, in Alfama, and Quinta da Dona Margarida, in Chelas”, refers to the proposal of Councilor Filipa Roseta.

On May 6, 2022, the Lisbon Chamber decided, unanimously, to request the Government to declare the public utility, “with an urgent nature”, of the expropriation of properties and the constitution of administrative services, for the implementation of the General Plan of Drainage 2016-2030.

The total amount of indemnities to be attributed due to expropriation and constitution of services was calculated at 5.9 million euros (5,997,025 euros), according to the proposal of the executive council.

The same proposal states that, as a “general rule”, the tunnel infrastructure provided for in the PGDL “crosses the areas covered at such a depth that it does not cause any damage”, so in these cases no compensation is awarded, since the value The economic value of private properties does not suffer any devaluation.

However, “in other specific geographical areas, the tunnel infrastructure will have a strong impact on the surface, which determines the need for the total or partial expropriation of 13 plots”, highlighting Beco do Belo, where the work has “a high impact ” in the buildings and in the square opposite, “making it unfeasible to use the building during an intervention and, according to the risk assessment, it could be damaged due to its old construction”.

Considered the largest municipal work ever carried out by the Lisbon City Council, the PGDL foresees the construction of two large drainage tunnels for the transfer of basins, in a contract that will cost “around 133 million euros” and which is expected to be completed in early 2025.