Policy Address | Rosário blames lack of policies for public housing access issues

Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Raimundo do Rosário (center)

The continuous lack of government policies that allow several social groups to access public housing, namely younger people, was one of the topics highlighted on Friday at the debate of the Policy Address for 2021 for the Secretariat of Transport and Public Works.
Replying to the questions of lawmakers at the Legislative Assembly (AL), the Secretary for Transport and Public Works Raimundo do Rosário heard repeated criticism and concerns raised by several lawmakers.
In his replies, the Secretary admitted that the point system currently in effect for the tendering of public housing and namely on economic renting does not benefit individual applicants, including the elderly and younger residents.
“I admit that, as you mentioned, an application to public housing that does not include a family household without older people in their care has difficulty getting a housing unit. I know this,” Rosário said in reply to a question of lawmaker Ella Lei.
“This is the rule and the law. The public housing regime was made aiming to allow poorer families access to a house,” he later added in a reply to lawmaker Sulu Sou, who questioned the continuous difficulties youngsters faced with the government policy.
Sou expressed disagreement with the direction being taken regarding the new type of housing the government is studying, the so-called “sandwich class,” saying, “This is not a solution. The prices of this type of housing will [be dependent on] the private market which is far from the possibilities of any youngster.”
“The government should allow youngsters access to a house to live in by renting first, as most of them will never have a chance of buying,” Sou added.
Rosário also refuted a point raised earlier by Lei, who said that the progress on the construction of the new public housing units has been slow, saying, “I have to disagree with you on this part. We are doing what we promised, which was the 24,000 units, and we are progressing well and in a phased manner. We have been able to deliver more public housing units in these four years than any time before,” he remarked, adding that the government and the CE are keen to deliver on all the promises on time. But in order to do so, they would have to request special permission for an exemption from the noise law, he said, referring specifically to next year’s project at the Avenida de Venceslau de Morais (the former land plot of CEM power plant).
“For the time being, we are going to move forward with construction seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. But if necessary, the CE is willing to make special exemptions for the fulfillment of the noise law provisions so we can extend the construction for a few more hours and finish our work on time,” Rosário suggested.