The newly sworn in mayor of Faro Rogério Bacalhau claims to be determined to legalize the housing nuclei of Ilha da Culatra and, in the process, the helipad that was built weeks ago by the population, without licenses. The mayor does not admit that he supports the measure, but he does not hide that he was on the barrier island that day to show his "solidarity" with the local population.
“I went there that day, I have no problem saying it, in an act of solidarity with the people of Culatr. This is not defending an illegal work, but there is a spirit of solidarity that we all must have with that population, to minimize the insecurity with which they live», he summed up, on the sidelines of his Inauguration, last week.
The population of the island justified, at the high, which proceeded to build the infrastructure, without waiting for the legal procedures to unfold, for security reasons. The helipad, they assured, will only be used "in emergency situations", namely medical. Justification that did not convince LPN/Algarve, who went public dubbed the measure an "attack" against the environment and called into question the passivity of the authorities.
“People on the islands feel very insecure. Those of us who live on this side and have a hospital relatively close don't even think about it. On the island, every time there is a problem, getting there by boat is complicated», defended, for his part, Rogério Bacalhau.
This is a central question, believes the new mayor of Faro, and “the meaning” for this attitude and for the “revolt” of the culatrenses. “This population has lived there for many decades. Most of her was born there. This raises another question: what can we do to solve the problem?” he added.
In Rogério Bacalhau's view, the legalization of the communities of Ilha da Culatra is the way forward. “Going down is not a solution, absolutely. We have to give dignity to those people, guaranteeing them what we guarantee on this side, which is access to housing with water, electricity and sewage. Those populations are entitled to the same conditions», he said.
For that, “we will all have to have good sense to legalize the whole situation”. “The helipad issue is just one more that is illegal. The people who live there live in illegal houses. We have to look at this matter very carefully and solve this problem,” he said.
A measure that is intended to be swift, as Rogério Bacalhau considers that "we cannot be discussing the same issue in ten years". "We are going to have to legalize the situation, give people security, give them property and let them live decently," he said.
As for any support from Chamber specialists to the culatrenses, on the correct way to build a helipad, the mayor assured that he was not aware of this, but did not deny that it could have happened, merely stating that it was not one of the portfolios in his position, in the previous executive, where he was vice-president.
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