Cecília Honório and the Left Block are "in complete harmony" with Rui André, mayor of Monchique, against the closure of the Court, revealed the deputy elected by BE in Algarve, after the meeting she held with the mayor, last Friday Tuesday, March 16th.
The blocist parliamentarian says she agrees with "the reasons highlighted by the mayor", namely that "the closure of this sovereign body does not fit within the criteria invoked by the government, where the average of processes concluded per year is around 400, very far away of the 250 minimum required, carrying over from year to year more than 500 cases'.
On the other hand, «the distance between Monchique and Silves – this is the city that will host the Court to close – is more than an hour and a half away, as there is no direct transport between these two locations. Furthermore, the building where the Court operates is in good condition, belongs to the Chamber and is being transferred free of charge to the Ministry of Justice».
Cecília Honório, after her working visit to Monchique, in which she was accompanied by João Vasconcelos, BE regional coordinator, argued that «the closure of the Court for purely economic reasons will seriously harm a municipality in the interior of the Algarve, with a very aging population and with mobility difficulties».
Furthermore, “the closure of the Court, as of other public services, goes against the interests and well-being of local populations, contributing to the desertification of the interior and the Algarve mountains”.
In this sense, deputy Cecília Honório has already announced that she will question the government at the parliamentary level about its intention to close the Monchique Court.
The parliamentarian from the Left Bloc then traveled to Portimão, to the institution “Catraia – Temporary Reception Center for Minors at Risk”, and met with those responsible, learning about its conditions and functioning.
This visit is part of the roadmap of poverty and social exclusion in the Algarve, where the Blocist Deputy will visit and meet with various institutions and associations in the region linked to the social area.
The deputy considers that "the current economic crisis and government policies have had consequences for the communities, revealing cases of social ruin, abandonment and lack of conditions."
“Catraia”, one of the five institutions of its kind existing in the Algarve and which take in children who are victims of neglect of food and hygiene, abuse and domestic and sexual violence, is home to around two dozen children aged between 0 and 12 years.
Some of the difficulties of this institution are the lack of staff, there is only one psychologist and the non-existence of child psychiatry services in the Algarve, which forces the children to travel to Lisbon, to the D. Estefânia Hospital.
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