the railroad postponed
Not being a specialist in railroads, however, I still question myself about the reason that leads the PS Government to continue to walk blindly about what truly interests the country in terms of the future of our railroad and whether there is a sincere interest in taking a step towards the future of the country.
It is obvious that the construction/modernization of the railway is not in the interest of two powerful sectors of our economic structure, road transport and internal air transport or with connections to Spain, and because the train, being much more economical and not polluting, would remove hundreds of thousands of passengers from those sectors, as long as the connections between Lisbon, Porto, Faro and Madrid were much more attractive to travelers.
This is the only way I can accept this incompetence in the absence of a decision, especially with a Government with an absolute majority and swimming in European Union funds. Added to this is the stubbornness of maintaining the Iberian gauge as if we were afraid of any invader arriving here by rail.
Be brave and don’t make any more excuses, unless the railway soap opera is a copy in every way identical to the tiresome process of the new (old) airport in Lisbon.
Manuel Alves, Lisbon
A room for two
About yesterday’s article in PÚBLICO [Vivem com desconhecidos, pais e ex-maridos: a crise na habitação em 12 testemunhos], I also had to share a room with a guy who worked in Finance. The house was very large, on the back floor of a building that had many rooms and they were all occupied with two tenants per room. In all, there were about ten of us.
The bathroom was shared by all tenants, as there was only one. There was only one bath a week and, if I wasted a little more time in the bath, Dona Ermelinda would turn off the water heater. What is new is that this happened in the early 60s, when I returned from the military and started my professional life.
To think that now, 60 years later, everything remains the same is that it no longer makes sense.
José Rebelo, Caparica
strikes and protests
In recent times, the symptoms of bad governance in the country are evident when there is rarely a day when we do not hear news about the discontent of people in various sectors of Portuguese society, who organize demonstrations or strikes, which will have their negative effects on the lives of citizens. users of targeted services, but they are a form of struggle that may, over time, produce positive results.
Education, health, justice and transport, as a whole, form part of the State machinery, and also have an impact on the numbers of the economy, so that, if these and other sectors function thanks to human intervention, these actors they have the right to feel valued for their commitment and dedication, which does not happen because we have a government that boasts of the numbers of the economy, but forgets the people who make it grow.
If a large part of what we discount also serves to feed the State machine and even to finance companies like Efacec, or the Portuguese trains, the question that arises is why the sum of 1800 million euros injected into CP continues to not be felt in the satisfaction of the operatives of that structure, whose strike harms people with possible negative repercussions on the economy of the country.
Americo Lourenco, Sines
suspended sentence
The suspended sentence in Portugal has a lot to say. It’s not for any convict. A little nobody will soon end up in the dust, to have at least a roof over his head, food and clean clothes. He is not, of course, enclosed in ‘a five star’, but, on moonlit nights, he sees the stars in the sky in squares.
Now, the defendants with high boots and thick makeup are left on the loose, doing whatever they please. That is, doing the same tricks as usual, or even more refined. So goes the law in Portugal, using two weights and two measures, as such examples are by far the best known.
Jose Amaral, Vila Nova de Gaia