The president of the Pico Island Council, in the Azores, stressed the “openness” of the Regional Government to solving the main local problems, at the end of a meeting held on Wednesday in the town of Lajes do Pico.
“I’m going with the idea that it’s not possible to do everything. There are demands that are understood and others that are less understood. (…) I think there is openness” on the part of the Azorean executive to resolve the major problems raised, Rui Lima told journalists at the end of a meeting held as part of the statutory visit of the Government of the Azores (PSD/CDS-PP/PPM) to the island of Pico.
The meeting, which lasted more than three and a half hours, took place on Wednesday evening at the Casas dos Botes Baleeiros, in the town of Lajes do Pico.
The meeting mainly tackled “long-standing” problems related to coastal works, health, road, air and sea accessibility.
According to Rui Lima, the meeting with the executive led by José Manuel Bolieiro was marked by three “emblematic” works for the three municipalities of the island of Pico: the protection of the coastline of São Roque Bay (in the municipality of São Roque do Pico), the Madalena bypass (municipality of Madalena) and the new Lajes Health Center (municipality of Lajes do Pico).
“I think the conversation was interesting and we were left with some bases for the future,” said the president of the Pico Island Council.
The President of the Regional Government of the Azores said at the end of the meeting that the councillors recognized “the achievements that have been made, both in terms of accessibility and health”.
“It’s natural that, in a dialog of progress, we still have a debate about adding value to what has already been achieved,” he said.
José Manuel Bolieiro added that, on the subject of air accessibility, the island of Pico “has changed its old configuration, which was already successful, but has now exceeded all expectations with the magnificent reform and paradigm shift that this government has brought about in air accessibility to all the islands”.
According to the leader of the Azorean executive, the opportunity for more direct flight connections from Pico to the mainland was also highlighted, a situation that “has Lisbon airport as the main constraint, since the available slots are not compatible with the opportunities for direct flights”, which is why “the offer has been achieved through indirect flights”.
Bolieiro said that the answers in this matter “are not in the hands of the government” and what was asked “was that the Pico Island Council also accompany the Azorean government in its just demands of the government of the Republic in this matter”.
The Government of the Azores ends today a three-day statutory visit to the island of Pico.
According to the Azores Statute, the Regional Government must visit each of the islands of the archipelago at least once a year, with the obligation to convene the Council of Government on the island visited.
