The deputy mayor of Lisbon said today that he was in “shock” when he learned that there were remunerative gains associated with fines from EMEL – Lisbon Mobility and Parking Company, revealing that the measure was “immediately suspended”.
“Regarding EMEL, I think we really need a new culture,” said Filipe Anacoreta Correia (CDS-PP), who is responsible for mobility.
The deputy mayor of Lisbon was speaking at the public meeting of the municipal executive, after being questioned by PS councilman Pedro Anastácio about statements in which he said that there may have been in the past, in the governance of the PS, in previous executives, “an ideological war against the car”, which remained in the culture of the company EMEL.
The socialist wanted to know the PSD/CDS-PP leadership’s position on the alleged aggression of EMEL employees against a driver, considering that the company’s communiqué on the situation reflects “an excusatory posture”.
In response, the Mayor of Lisbon, Carlos Moedas (PSD), reiterated that the occurrence of the alleged aggression “is unacceptable” and defended the vision of “an EMEL that is not punitive, but that works with people, that defends people.
Carlos Moedas pointed out that “a year ago, many people talked about the lack of enforcement” of parking for residents at night, so “that enforcement has to be done, but it has to be done in a positive way”, to defend the residents.
“When it was reported to me that there would be some incentive system that had a correlation with the number of fines, obviously that can’t happen either. People have to earn their salary, they have to do their job, and they have to be rewarded for their work, but they can’t be rewarded for passing more and more fines, because that is an incentive that is contrary to what it should be,” the mayor said, advocating change.
In the same sense, the vice-president mentioned that he was “shocked to learn that there were remunerative gains associated with fines”, a “completely unacceptable” situation, but that was inherited from the past and that was “immediately suspended, so it is no longer practiced”.
About the episode of alleged violence by EMEL employees, Filipe Anacoreta Correia stressed: “None of us can express anything other than shock at that news.
Filipe Anacoreta Correia, Vice-Presidente da Câmara Municipal.
(Leonardo Negrão / Global Imagens)
Lisboa, 24/01/2023 – Filipe Anacoreta Correia, Vice-Presidente da Câmara Municipal.
(Leonardo Negrão / Global Imagens)
Lisboa, 25/01/2023 – Obras onde vão decorrer Jornadas Mundiais da Juventude, construção do palco/altar.
Filipe Anacoreta Correia, Vice-Presidente da Câmara Municipal.
(Leonardo Negrão / Global Imagens)
EMEL has opened an inquiry to ascertain the “disciplinary responsibilities” of enforcement agents involved in an alleged assault, now keeping them on duty without contact with the public.
On Tuesday, Correio da Manhã (CM) reported an alleged aggression on a 35-year-old man by three EMEL inspectors, who allegedly broke three of the victim’s teeth and nose.
The company clarified, in a statement, that the exercise of the functions of parking regulation in the city of Lisbon requires from the traffic control employees “the greatest correction and sense of civility”.
“EMEL repudiates all acts of violence that result from the exercise of these powers, regretting the situation of violence” that occurred on Monday, the note read.
The company also recognized the difficulties faced by its inspection agents, pointing out that they are often “the target of intolerable physical and psychological aggression in the course of their duties,” as, it added, was now the case.
