João Guerreiro, president of the Independent Technical Commission responsible for investigating the causes of the tragedies of the fires in Pedrógão and October, already has one more goat, to add to the 150 he has at home.
But this is not a sapper goat, one of those that the Government wants to reintroduce in the forests. is made in sea stone from Olhos de Agua, by Albufeires artist Joaquim Pargana, and was offered as a symbol of the 2017 Algarvian Personality Award, which was handed to him yesterday by the blog «Place to the South», in a ceremony in the main hall of the Câmara de Tavira.
Gonçalo Duarte Gomes, one of the founders of this blog "which is intended to debate the Algarve as a region and as a region that contributes to the whole of Portugal", explained that the current 12 permanent members of "Lugar ao Sul" considered that a year and shortly after its creation, it was time to «honor a figure who had distinguished himself in the Algarve, not only in the region, but for the whole of Portugal».
And the choice ended up falling on João Guerreiro, for his «prominent role within the Independent Technical Committee», but above all «for his path as a citizen and as a thinking head».
Another "also decisive" contribution by João Guerreiro, according to Gonçalo Gomes, is "the warning he has systematically launched for the need for the region to think of itself as such", as "a coherent set that goes beyond the mere sum of 16 municipalities" .
But, he underlined, it is a "sweet irony" that, in order to coordinate, at national level, the Independent Technical Commission, "a person was chosen from one of the regions that most needs ordering and structuring thinking."
The journalist Idálio Revez, who presented the honoree, thanked the editorial team of «Lugar ao Sul» for «having had the idea of distinguishing a personality from the Algarve who knew how to interpret the local, without losing the global dimension».
"João Guerreiro conquered a space that is far beyond regional borders and acquired the respect and admiration of those who look critically at the country's problems," he added. Last year, João Guerreiro was “appointed by the Council of Rectors to take the place of “super judge” in the case of the dramatic fire in Pedrógão”.
Regarding the work developed there, Idálio Revez underlined that the «ability to build bridges, between institutions and people, especially in difficult occasions – when the thermometers of emotion go off – is part of the DNA of this Warrior, who fights without weapons».
“The tribute paid to him today will not only have to do with this passage through the media spectrum, despite the effort he systematically makes to stay out of the limelight”. The fact is that João Guerreiro, geographer, «knows well the coordinates of the University where he was rector, but also, as former president of the CCDR, he learned to trace the latitude of regional power».
Jorge Botelho, Mayor of Tavira and the Intermunicipal Community of the Algarve, and who hosted the award session, congratulated the mentors of the blog «Lugar ao Sul», «for joining, for having an opinion, for not being indifferent, for being in agreement and disagreeing and, above all, for having a constructive spirit».
The mayor also pointed out that the award «distinguishes one of the biggest protagonists of the Algarve today».
The honoree, in response to all these compliments, stressed that the award initiative «is about me, but it also has to do with the Algarve and with everything we want for the Algarve and that we want to reflect on the Algarve».
About his most recent mission, at the head of the Independent Technical Commission, João Guerreiro said that the report “put a finger on the wound” and raised “publicly the issues of bad organization”, having brought “the issue of the forest and the interior to the fore of the table, as a national problem that has to be debated and resolved». "There were those who did not like the report, especially the National Civil Protection Authority," revealed the honoree.
As for the work of the “Lugar ao Sul” blog, João Guerreiro underlined that “it has had an intervention in several areas, in fundamental themes”. “It is from the inside out that we have to find solutions”, he stressed. And he praised the group of bloggers, "young people who understand the dynamics of the region and who are, in a way, doing us a favor by putting the region's core problems on the table", promoting "a debate without sectarianism ».
For João Guerreiro, a geographer with a basic training, «the main problem in the Algarve is the lack of people. It's not just in the Algarve that this happens, but the demography hits us with enormous brutality». Because, he explained, "without people, we cannot develop activities and better structure the social and economic fabric."
For the former rector of the University of Algarve and former president of the Regional Coordination Commission, there are two basic problems here: «intra-regional mobility, for which we have not yet been able to find solutions» and «qualification», since, he argued, “we lack people and we lack qualified people”.
But it is also necessary to reflect on Tourism, not only seeing what it has brought positive, but also “the negative points”, such as the fact that it competes “with other sectors”, since “tourism absorbs the best staff and drought and hinders activities around it».
Therefore, he defended, "since tourism is a fundamental activity that generates benefits, we should find solutions for greater social and political regulation".
And the goats?
João Guerreiro, with a smile hidden by his huge and characteristic mustache, explained that he makes a collection of goats, something bloggers were aware of, if only because he had exhibited there at the Terra de Maio fair in Azinhal. her flock, and Filomena Sintra, deputy mayor of Castro Marim, is one of the founders of «Lugar ao Sul».
Having family origins in Querença, the rural world was always present in his life, whether he was the son of Manuel Gomes Guerreiro, first dean of UAlg and a specialist in environmental and ecological sciences.
For this reason, João Guerreiro recalled, “the goat was a central element in the clearings of the Mediterranean, it was the caterpillar who went ahead and cleared the woods». Hence his fascination for these animals.
«I must have something like 150 goats at home, from all over the world and in various materials». The one that won yesterday as a symbol of the 2017 Algarvian Personality of the Year award is another one to be added to this vast collection.
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