The competitions for the rehabilitation works of the public space of Ilha da Culatra (Faro), which will motivate an investment of 1,5 million euros, will be launched "already in the first half of September", announced this Monday, 21st of August, the minister of Environment João Matos Fernandes.
The member of the Government was in Tavira, where he revealed that the procedure for investing this money in Culatra is soon to come, to carry out a set of interventions that "will greatly improve the public space, without messing with the characteristics of that agglomerate".
According to João Matos Fernandes, it is “essential to launch the tenders” by the middle of next month, “to meet the demanding deadline” arising from the application of this work to the Algarve Operational Programme, which has already been approved. In other words, it was not possible to postpone it until after the local elections, which will take place shortly after, on October 1st.
“What is important on the islands are the traditional activities. Hence our great effort in the Culatra cluster, which began with the Intervention and Requalification Plan (PIR), which has already been approved and ratified by me and continued with this candidacy», according to the minister.
Throughout this process, it was ensured that "the inhabitants of Culatra have titles [of property] that extend over time." On the table is the lifetime ownership of the houses, with the possibility of passing them on to descendants, if they are fishing professionals.
«The protected areas of the Natural Parks are very humanized. Human activity itself has contributed to creating biodiversity, which is why it is essential that it be maintained and that is the strategy that we are and want to continue to follow», added the Minister of Environment.
In this way, the people of Cula, as well as other communities located in territories that today enjoy special environmental protection, should not leave where they have been living for a long time. And they can even give extra help in defending natural values.
This, at least, is the objective of the “Fishing for a sea without garbage” project, which took the Minister of the Sea to Ilha da Culatra this afternoon. During the morning, Ana Paula Vitorino had also been in Tavira, where she accompanied, together with her counterpart from the Environment, the signing of a protocol for the construction of a new pier on Ilha de Tavira and watched the presentation of several projects for the riverside area of this city.
On the sidelines of the session, the minister highlighted the importance of the initiative that led her to the Culatra nucleus, in Faro. «There is a great ambition on the part of the Ministry of the Sea, which is to actively participate in what is the health of the ocean and our beaches. If not, the easiest part is cleaning the beaches», he said.
Bearing in mind "the importance of cleaning the oceans", the project "Fishing for a sea without garbage" was launched, an initiative of the tutelage that is being implemented by Docapesca and which has now arrived at Culatra, in a partnership that includes the City Council in Faro, the Association of Residents of Ilha da Culatra and the Portuguese Association of Marine Waste.
“With this initiative, we guarantee that waste is not thrown overboard. Thus, we want to ensure that the boats have conditions for the sea to be kept clean, because garbage is accommodated and this is brought ashore, to be recycled and reused. There will also be this concern at the auctions,” he assured.
Another component of this project is the training of fishing professionals. «The fishermen and their associations, in general, have been partners in new policies related to the sea, both in policies for the preservation of stocks, and in terms of environmental policies. They are fantastic people who have collaborated and have been pioneers in these programs», added Ana Paula Vitorino.
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