“This caring city [is] also shown in the effort we are making in housing. On Monday I delivered another 30 keys to Lisbon residents who need them. Since the beginning of the mandate, there have been 1,823 keys, 1,823 families, who will change their lives because they have a roof over their heads, that is what we committed to”, stated Carlos Moedas (PSD).

The mayor, who was speaking on the occasion of the presentation of written information at the Lisbon Municipal Assembly, about the executive's activity, also highlighted “the effort to help more than 1,300 families with income support”, and that, after another edition of the program in support of leasing, the municipality now has “704 applications” to analyze and always with the same objective of “supporting those who need it most”.

“It is with these tangible achievements that we solve the housing problem, it is not with ideological discussions, whether it is public, whether it is private, whether it is the city council” or the State, “it is about solving the problem with very concrete aid”, he stressed.

In the “accountability”, as he called it, Moedas highlighted that, in the 50 years since the 25th of April, “Lisbon has also joined the great celebration of democracy”, with “a broad and open program, with around 200 initiatives to celebrate April.”

Among his commitments to the city, in addition to housing and the cultural participation in the Buenos Aires Book Fair (Argentina), the mayor highlighted the support for homeless people, with the investment of €1.2 million “to put in operation the new Municipal Emergency Reception Center in Beato and “welcome 128 homeless people”.

Since “it is not enough to guarantee a roof over your head”, a new Municipal Employment and Autonomy Unit was opened in Bairro do Armador, to guarantee the integration of these people into professional life, with “15 vacancies to help in this transition to a new life”.

In addition to more daycare centers and the beginning of construction of new basic schools, the mayor's president is also betting on a “clean city” and, in this sense, the council channeled “4 million euros in cooperation contracts with parishes for Urban Hygiene”, which will allow, in the first six months of the year, “to increase urban cleaning routines and optimize resources”.

However, the assessment made by Carlos Moedas did not find a favorable response from the socialist bench, which invited the mayor to clarify how many of the 102 keys handed over “between March and April” were the work of his mandate.

“Mr President is not a magician, nor does anyone demand that of him, but what the hell, building 1,785 houses in three years, despite everything, is work, because you know that just the legal process to do all this takes at least a good couple of years”, pointed out municipal deputy Miguel Coelho (PS).

The president of the Parish Council of Santa Maria Maior challenged Moedas to say “how many houses have you built from scratch, and now with the money from the PRR [Recovery and Resilience Plan] what have you already launched?”

“It’s not worth trying to deceive people”, accused Miguel Coelho, also criticizing the work in “social action”, with drug addiction “increasing” on the streets, making “the lack of strategy for the homeless situation” evident and glaring.

The socialist mayor also referred to the completion of the funicular to Graça, designed by Manuel Salgado, and the city's drainage plan, whose financing was approved in the municipal assembly “on a proposal from Fernando Medina's council, with the PSD voting against ”, as examples of work that Moedas forgets to attribute to previous socialist mandates.

Councilor Inês Drummond (PS) also challenged Moedas to say “how many houses were under construction” and accused: “How many keys were handed over that were yours, whose work started with you and were completed with you, zero”.

The president of the municipality assured that, of the approximately 1,800, “a thousand were the work” of the current executive, recovered with “a program worth €140 million” by the municipal company Gebalis, “which were abandoned, were not being used, were broken, [and] they were destroyed.”

And he said: “The houses don’t belong to the PS, the houses belong to the people”.