Beja, Portugal, Dec. 15, 2025 (Lusa) - The Portuguese Communist Party, the PCP, on Monday criticised the revision of the financial allocation for the modernisation of the Alentejo region railway line between Casa Branca and Beja, under the Alentejo 2030 funding programme, and accused the PSD and PS of resorting to "political sleight of hand".
In a statement, the Alentejo Regional Directorate (DRA) of the PCP "denounces and deplores the political sleight of hand aimed at diverting attention from what is essential and shifting mutual responsibilities between the Socialist Party (the PS) and the ruling Social Democrat Party (the PSD) for the delays in this intervention".
At issue is the fact that the Alentejo Regional Coordination and Development Commission (CCDR) confirmed earlier this month the revision of the financial allocation for the project to modernise, upgrade and electrify the railway line between Casa Branca and Beja, which went from around €80 million to €20 million, under the Alentejo 2030 regional operational programme.
The decision was communicated during a meeting on 2 December in Évora between the Alentejo 2030 steering committee, the company Infraestruturas de Portugal (IP) and the Intermunicipal Community of Baixo Alentejo (CIMBAL), which covers 13 of the 14 districts in the region of Beja (the exception being Odemira).
Later, in statements to the Lusa news agency, the president of the Alentejo Regional Coordination and Development Commission (CCDR), António Ceia da Silva, explained that the programme "could not maintain the budget [initially planned at 80 million] allocated" to the project because the work "was neither feasible nor practicable" within the current Community support framework, which ends at the end of 2027.
For the Communist Party Alentejo Regional Directorate, the modernisation and electrification of the Casa Branca-Beja line "has long been demanded by the region's population", as well as "the connection to [Beja] Airport" and the "modernisation and electrification of the line between Beja and Funcheira".
"For decades, successive propaganda campaigns and announcements by successive PS or PSD governments (with or without the Christian Democrats, the CDS) have resulted in the postponement and non-implementation of the necessary work, with each side trying to shift the blame, when it is clear that both are responsible for the delay in implementing these investments," the communists accused.
The PCP also stressed that "the decision to reduce the Alentejo 2030 programme budget for this intervention by €60 million was taken as part of its reprogramming" during September and October, "with the approval of the Programme Monitoring Committee".
According to the communists, this committee is composed of representatives from Infraestruturas de Portugal, IP - the country's road and rail infrastructure managing company, various departments of the central administration and intermunicipal communities, and the decision was "monitored by the supervisory authority".
"It is therefore imperative that, in view of the exchanges of accusations and manoeuvres, the position of the monitoring committee of each of these entities be clarified," the statement reads.
The Communist Party Alentejo Regional Directorate also recalled that "the party had long been drawing attention to the consequences of this decision", considering it to be "a top-down reprogramming aimed at responding to the European Union's alleged priorities".
The communists also accused the Social Democrat MP elected by Beja, Gonçalo Valente, of wanting to "shake off the PSD government's responsibilities in this whole process", after the Social Democratic parliamentary group submitted a request on 9th December for hearings with the president of the Alentejo CCDR, António Ceia da Silva, the executive president of IP, Miguel Cruz, and the secretary of state for Infrastructure, Hugo Espírito Santo, in the Committee on Infrastructure, Housing and Mobility.
"It is, therefore, a clearly political manoeuvre aimed at throwing a cloud of dust over the essential content of the process and preparing the ground for, in the face of growing opposition, now appearing as its saviour, disenchanting a possible announcement that in some other instrument there will be the funding that is now lacking," concluded the PCP Alentejo Regional Directorate.
CYMP/AYLS // AYLS
Lusa
