The residents of the Farole dos Hangares continue to work on several fronts to try to save houses from being demolished, when the beginning of the administrative takeover of the first of 57 houses marked to go down in these two nuclei of Ilha da Culatra has been taking place for days.
Many landlords have filed civil lawsuits claiming possession for adverse possession, actions that are ongoing in the Court of Faro. Thus, it will be expected that in the coming days, even before the administrative takeover of the houses - in the Farol is scheduled for February 22nd and 23rd, at Hangares 3 de Março -, new precautionary measures appear, associated with these processes.
The islanders do not lower their arms and there are those who make a point of making their support clear. The "suspension of a process that has been plagued since the beginning" was defended by the coordinator of the Left Block Catarina Martins, who visited these two housing centers on Ilha da Culatra this Sunday and considered that the only way is to stop and think.
“We think it is important that no house is demolished, as the data that the Government has are not to be trusted. Polis has already shown, with the process that came from the previous Government, that its criteria are not trustworthy. The Government changed the direction of the Society because it realized that the entire process was tainted from the beginning. We're not going to commit the injustice of demolishing houses, to realize, the next day, that they shouldn't have collapsed», defended the BE coordinator.
“Almost 500 houses were scheduled for demolition. We took this struggle of the inhabitants to the Assembly of the Republic and a good part of the houses, today, are no longer threatened, but the demolition process is not over. On Wednesday, 60 houses will be demolished here, some of which are the only dwelling of families. Nobody spoke to these people and nobody understands the criteria according to which their houses will be demolished», he considered.
“Everything indicates that this is not a process that has to do with environmental problems, but real estate speculation. Also because another island, right next door [Ilha Deserta], where the houses were demolished, now has a luxury restaurant», he pointed out. «They want to take from the poor to give to the rich», accused one owner, giving strength to the idea that Catarina Martins was sharing with the population.
Despite suspicions, the islanders have preferred to support their struggle on more concrete arguments. The chameleon, who even made an appearance during the visit of the BE coordinator to the Hangares, by the hand of a local inhabitant, was one of them. The shy animal is at the center of a process advanced by the Chamber of Olhão, whose sentence has yet to be heard – the final hearing was scheduled for February 17, but was postponed to a date to be announced.
At the same time, representatives of homeowners in the Farole Hangares have been in contact with the Ministry of Environment, in order to save buildings that, in his view, should remain standing. At this moment, among the 57 whose owners have been notified, there are three in this condition.
According to Feliciano Júlio, president of the Ilha do Farol of Santa Maria, «the houses in question are for the first time». Two of them belong to fishing and seafood professionals and a third “to a person who has retired from these activities”.
"It is urgent that the Government understands the mistake made by the previous executive, the trap that exists, and that it does not tear down houses without a serious process and without talking to these populations", reinforced Catarina Martins.
The coordinator of the BE recalled the motion approved in the Assembly of the Republic, in December, for the classification of the historic nuclei of the barrier islands of Ria Formosa, for which «the BE fought for».
"For this, it is necessary to change the POOC and recognize these historic nuclei, so that people whose homes are already safe in this process do not always have their hearts in their hands," he concluded.
See the images of Catarina Martins' visit to Farol Hangars:
Photos: Hugo Rodrigues | Sul Informação
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