Terraplenage entrepreneurs create association with 100 companies

Oterraplenage entrepreneurs want to form a class association by the end of november to better defend the interests of the sector, which will have national scope and should join about a hundred companies.

“ Only from the moment we start to have some structure is that we can also end up demonstrating, with the tutelage, that the support is not enough and that these companies require another type of decision-making ", today Lusa lawyer Miguel Machado Mendes, who represented the entrepreneurs of the terraplenage sector in the slow march that they organized on 25 September last to demand concrete responses to the increase in fuels.

According to the person responsible, since then “significant advances have been given to constitute” the class association, having already been “asked and admitted” the necessary certificates.

“ We are just waiting for the agendas of entrepreneurs to coincide to do the writing,” he said, advancing that the goal is to bring together “at least 100 to 120 companies at this early stage.”.

The initiative comes just over a month after the slow march organized by entrepreneurs related to the extraction of materials, earthmoving, excavation, movement and transportation of land and inerts, who, over about five hours, traveled a path between Paredes and Coimbra to demand measures against the escalating price of fuels.

Following this protest, the Government undertook – at a meeting on 28 September with representatives of the sector – to extend to industrial equipment, such as backhoes, excavators or jackhammers, support for diesel already allocated to agricultural equipment, translated into a discount of about 10 cents per litre.

Another of the commitments then made by the executive was the standardization of the maximum weight limits per load, in order to equip the sector with the transport of woody materials, allowing it to carry up to 60 tons in five-axle trucks, against the current 44 tons of maximum capacity.

“ By charging more, we do less transport and spend less fuel, so all these measures allow to mitigate the increase in diesel ", emphasized, at the time, Miguel Machado Mendes.

Asked by Lusa about whether these support is already on the ground, the responsible said that “a few things have gone ahead”, but none has yet been effectively implemented.

“ Support for diesel for industrial equipment has already been published, but it has not yet been felt in the pockets of entrepreneurs, because they wait for the IMT [Institute of Mobility and Transport], which is the entity will have to certify the equipment, publish the form that companies have to use”, detailed.

Regarding the increase in maximum weight limits per load, the lawyer said that the sector received, “about 15 days or three weeks ago, a bill to change the rules of the maximum tonnages”, but “there has been no publication of the decree until now.”.

While recognizing that these articles “take their time”, Miguel Machado Mendes points out that “they also require organization” by the sector: “Only with a slightly more organized structure can we have another kind of reaction from the government,” he emphasizes.

In addition to the two commitments made at the end of September by the government, it is also on the table “other measures that depend on the interaction with other ministries”, namely the Economy and the Environment, and therefore “require further negotiation”.

“ These are all pressing issues, but only a little more organized structure can have another kind of reaction from the government”, he said.