If a mayor doesn't work for people, "he's not doing anything here". That is why in Alcoutim, the main priority of the Chamber over the next four years will be the population and the improvement of their living conditions, assured Osvaldo Gonçalves, who took office yesterday for a third and final term as president of the Alcoutenejo municipality.
The mayor elected by the PS admits that this "will be a demanding mandate", but assures that his executive "will know how to rise to the challenge". Helping are the comfortable majorities that the PS obtained in this municipality, in the Municipalities of September, not only in the City Council, but also in the Municipal Assembly and Parish Councils.
During his inaugural speech, Osvaldo Gonçalves emphasized that he will “continue to follow the path started in 2013, based on a major priority: people”.
«When I identify people as the first priority, it is so that we never forget that our work develops and is done above all for people. Because if it's not for them, we're not doing anything here», explained the newly appointed mayor to the Sul Informação.
If this is true in all municipalities, in one that, like Alcoutim, has “a major problem in terms of depopulation”, this concern is even greater.
“We want to bet and invest in young people and youth. We are working for it. But, at the same time, we have to ensure that the reinforcement of the work that is done with the senior population is not neglected, since these people increasingly depend on the municipality», he stressed.
“For example: the health issue. People are more vulnerable and need more health care when they reach a certain age. We have to regret the lack of this care and assistance, which should be guaranteed by the State. Sometimes it takes a while, other times it doesn't even happen," he exemplified.
“That's why we always have to reinvent ourselves to create those conditions. There is a huge set of areas in which we have to intervene, ranging from general family medicine, to physiotherapy, clinical psychology, psychiatry and speech therapy, among others. And that weighs on our budget. We cannot think that we are going to make a budget thinking of a thousand and one things, without taking care of this slice», added Osvaldo Gonçalves.
And if the availability of money can be an obstacle to the progress of some works, which have to be well thought out, there is one that already has guaranteed funding, coming from the “bazooka” of the European Union.
“The bridge will be another priority. We have a great responsibility here, because within the scope of the Recovery and Resilience Plan, a method was created for this type of works, in order to streamline procedures, which, in our case, lead to the Municipality being the owner of the work." , said the mayor of Alcoutim.
Despite admitting that it will be an arduous task, Osvaldo Gonçalves has no doubts that he will be able to «build the bridge. We are going to devote ourselves thoroughly – in fact, we are already doing it. We have already scheduled a marathon of meetings in Spain, to smooth out some rough edges».
Before speaking to our newspaper, Osvaldo Gonçalves had already heard from the mouth of the new president of the Municipal Assembly that he could count on "the collaboration, loyalty and solidarity" of this body.
Socialist António Matias, who will be accompanied at the table by António Amorim (1st secretary) and Isabel Campos (2nd secretary), both from the PS, headed a single list that won the vote with 12 votes in favor and six whites.
This good will on the part of AM always comes in handy, as Osvaldo Gonçalves' team also wants to invest in areas such as housing and the road network, without forgetting water and sanitation.
“Our Local Housing Strategy was approved by the Municipal Assembly on 3 September, has already been submitted to the IHRU and is awaiting final approval. As soon as that happens, we will start executing», told the aedile alcoutenejo.
«This is a tool that can help us and that, even if it doesn't solve all the problems, some will certainly solve it», he believes.
On the other hand, agricultural paths and rural roads, which were also mentioned in the inauguration speech, “are one of the fundamental things that people need”.
«We continue to fight for the IC27 to be concluded, for the connections that break the interior of the Serra here, to São Brás and Faro, be a priority. But before this mission, we have to look at where the people are», he illustrated.
Another bet assumed by Osvaldo Gonçalves for the next term is to make Alcoutim more attractive to the so-called digital nomads, people who can work from anywhere in the world, as long as they have a good quality Internet connection at their disposal.
And if you already feel that “there is a greater demand from digital nomads”, the problem is that Internet network coverage still leaves a lot to be desired in a large part of the county's territory.
However, «there is a solution, we know what it is and we have even implemented it in the field».
«Through a partnership with Algarve Digital, and following an application aimed at increasing Internet coverage, the municipality held a tender, which was won by Altice, which installed five wi-fi network distributors. For that to happen, they have to install there mobile network. That way, we killed two birds with one stone. There were ten piles that were left with 100% mobile network and broadband Internet coverage. This is what we need to replicate in other areas», said the mayor of Alcoutim.
There is also “a project done” for a coworking space, in the village of Alcoutim, that the executive has “the ambition, the will and the hope that he will bring people here to work”.
“We have a problem, which is the lack of people. Depopulation and desertification are serious for the entire interior. And all we do is always thinking about how we can reverse this trend. One action alone may not make a difference, but the whole can help. We are working in this direction and creating this articulation of actions», he assured.
“We have a lot of territory, infrastructure that is oversized for the population we have. People can see that we have the capacity to welcome them», challenged Osvaldo Gonçalves.
Photos: Hugo Rodrigues |Sul Informação
Taking office of the Municipal Bodies of Alcoutim
Carlos Ludovico (PSD), councilor
Paulo Paulino (PS), councilor
Maria Paula Carrusca (PSD), councilor
Rosa Palma (PS), councilor
António Matias (PS), elected president
Rui Cruz (PSD)
Jose Moreira (PS)
Anselmo Vicente (PSD)
Isabel Campos (PS)
Antonio Amorim (PS)
Delilah Barros (PSD)
Lina Saucer (PS)
Joao Dias (PSD)
Aurelio Teixeira (PS)
Epiphany Correia (PSD)
Humberto Costa (PS)
Melanie Fernandes (PS)
Grace Pereira (PSD)
Carlos Escobar (PS)
(also with seat, inherently, in AM)
João Carlos Simões, Union of the parishes of Alcoutim and Pereiro (PS)
José Afonso, Parish Council of Giões (PS)
Paulo Ginja, Parish Council of Martim Longo (PS)
Perpétua Martins, Parish Council of Vaqueiros (PS)
Comments