The Funchal City Council executive will propose the closure and liquidation of ‘Frente Mar’, the company that manages the bathing complexes, parking lots and some public spaces. At the origin of the decision are the continuous poor financial results of the municipal company, which have motivated requests for information from the opposition and even the approval of an audit in the Municipal Assembly.
Last summer, CMF purchased 80 thousand tickets for the bathing complexes managed by Frente Mar, for a value of 290 thousand euros, in a direct negotiation procedure, which, according to the PSD, “may constitute a concealed financing from the municipality to that municipal company. This raises doubts about the legality of the whole process ”. For this reason, it forwarded information to the Court of Auditors on this procedure.
There was also a debt to the Tax Authority that culminated in the attachment of bank accounts in the Municipality, debt to social security, compensation to an employee in the amount of 355 thousand euros and delays in the payment of salaries of the employees of this municipal company Frente Mar.
The ‘Frente Mar’ was created in December 2003, by a council chaired by Miguel Albuquerque, with the purpose of managing the bathing complexes and almost from the beginning had problems. In 2014, its first administrator was even sentenced by the Funchal court to three years in prison for the crime of economic participation in business. An audit by the Court of Auditors known in 2015 revealed several irregularities (such as the acquisition of goods and services without respecting the legal rules) and suggested the closure of the company due to successive losses.
Since April 2013, he has also managed the five car parks (Edifício 2000, Cruz Vermelha, Campo da Barca, Praça Amarela and Largo do Pelourinho) that for 20 years were under concession to SEP, owned by businessman António Henriques. A few months later the Chamber would be condemned by the court to integrate the 20 workers hired by SEP into the ‘Frente Mar’. In 2018, the last year with a report and accounts available, the company had 125 employees.
DIÁRIO requested explanations from the CMF president at the end of this afternoon, but received no response from Miguel Silva Gouveia.
No more words needed…