They are “tired of being robbed”, they want the Ministry of Agriculture to come up with a law and, if nothing is done, they do not rule out cutting traffic on the EN125 during the summer. Hundreds of carob growers demonstrated on the afternoon of this Friday, July 29, in front of the Loulé Chamber, and demand responses from the Government.
Farmers wanted to show their displeasure at the lack of measures to protect and mitigate the recognized scourge of carob theft in the region.
In statements to the Sul Informação, Horácio Piedade, president of Agrupa – Agrupamento de Produtores de Alêndoa e Carob, explained that the main objective of the demonstration was “to sensitize the minister [Maria do Céu Albuquerque] to a decree-law that has been in her drawer for a year”.
The document mentioned by Horácio Piedade is a draft law that resulted from a working group, created by the Regional Directorate of Agriculture and Fisheries, which brought together Agrupa, AIDA (Interprofessional Association for the Development of Carob Production and Valorisation), ASAE, the Tax Authority, GNR and AMAL.
This group came up with a proposal that involved the association of a title deed to the act of sale: that is, when carob be sold, it becomes necessary to prove that you are the legitimate owner of this fruit.
Macário Correia, former president of the Chambers of Faro and Tavira (PSD) and former Secretary of State for the Environment, current farmer, was one of the faces that was present at today's demonstration.
In his speech, he criticized the fact that this document had not yet been published.
«For more than a year there has been an interesting document that obliges the owner of carob beans to associate the sale and the invoice with the identification that he is the owner of carob beans. We all have land registers, documents from the Conservatória and the parcels with the crops, but whoever sells stolen carob has none of that, nor does it present anything”, he considered.
José Cebola Teresa knows what it's like to be "robbed".
“Every year, I am the victim of theft and this year I was too. They took me about 10 arrobas (150 kilos), but last year they took more than 50 arrobas», he told the report of Sul Informação.
The producer, who has land in the municipality of Loulé, wants «something» to be done.
“This law helped a lot because this has to change. I, every day, drive my car through the properties, but not like that. That's why I came to the demonstration, because I want to see the issue resolved”, she added, holding a poster in her hand.
For Horácio Piedade, another objective of this protest was “to ask the authorities to inspect more while there is no such documentation”.
Asked why the law did not get off the ground, the president of Agrupa said he would also like to know why. What is certain is that «there are robberies every day: we are here and for sure that, at this moment, one of these producers is being stolen», he illustrated.
Although there is no accounting, this official estimates that “thousands of arrobas of carob have already been stolen”.
“This year, the sale opened at 40 euros per arroba and that is also an incentive to steal”, he added.
Macário Correia, on the other hand, does not spare criticism of the Government. “The State collects taxes from us, demands papers from us, but the State also has to give us something in return: the mechanisms that protect us as workers. What we are witnessing today is that, at night, with a flashlight on, a van with half a dozen people drives around looking for carob: the fact is that today there is no clear mechanism to control the circuits of marketing", he said.
The former mayor too pointed batteries both the Minister of Agriculture and Pedro Valadas Monteiro, regional director of Agriculture and Fisheries.
«It is very strange that, in Terreiro do Paço, there is someone who does not hear or understand us: it is strange that, in Patacão, there is someone who has turned his back on us. After having done something worthwhile, having created a solution, he has shut up in a way that is not fair. Whoever is a regional director has to fight for us», he criticized.
After this demonstration, which was attended by some Loulé mayors from both the PS and the PSD, and in which a letter was delivered to the Mayor Vítor Aleixo so that he can take it to the Minister of Agriculture, the producers have other planned actions, if nothing is done.
One of the ideas is to cut the EN125, during the summer. «We have to gather the members, who are about 400, but that has already been said», concluded Horácio Piedade.
Photos: Pedro Lemos | Sul Informação
Comments