the worst of public cadres is that they take advantage of the European Frameworks to invent square wheels, instead of adapting those that already run in other countries. Almost all the SMEs I interview say the same: “pay the salary of 100 Tables at home, which harms the country less than letting them hinder us”.
In a recent debate on “Opportunidades na Crise” at FNAC Guia and another in Lisbon, initiated by the president of the Court of Auditors Guilherme de Oliveira Martins on the themes of my books, it became obvious that the intransparencies denounced by businessmen and by the Court would fall, if there were fewer intrigues and private interests using many of these middle chiefs.
With money from the EU and ours, in Praia Grande, defendant Armação de Pêra, on the walkway that takes tourists from the parking lot to the beach, the unusual and attractive old sleepers were replaced by planks, similar to those on any walkway in the EU. They didn't modernize, apart from widening, that section, which, against all recommendations for better mobility, continues with steps instead of ramps. This prevents access to wheelchair users and creates height differences for small animals, such as rabbits, that pass underneath.
Whoever designed that work was close to the builder, far from the environment. It cost a lot, maybe ten times what it would have cost just to replace the rotten sleepers and do the annual maintenance required of any public works. If that passage were made on ramps, the cycle path that ends there could take Dutch and Danish tourists to the beach and thus make it more attractive.
Instead of spending money, the money wasted there should go to Almargem, better signposting the Via Algarviana and carry out mini-adjustments in the most difficult sections.
More false steps and lost rabbits in the Kafkaesque trap of bureaucracy maintained by increasingly impoverished taxpayers.
Author Jack Soifer was a consultant for the World Bank and is the author of the books «Undertaking Nature Tourism", "Portugal Rural" e «How to Get Out of the Crisis»
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