The Mission of the European Parliament’s Transport and Tourism Committee, which is currently visiting Madeira, was received today by the Mayor of Funchal, Pedro Calado and Co-Ordinator of public works, traffic, Civil Protection and firefighters, Bruno Pereira. During their meeting, Pedro Calado highlighted the island’s air and maritime transport problems.
During the meeting, the Mayor said that “the arrival of MEPs to the Municipality of Funchal is positive,” explaining that the general feeling MEPs had when talking with various regional entities, was that the same problems were affecting everybody.
For the main part, Pedro Calado and CMF representatives focused on the accessibility and transport problems that Madeira has, as well as the dependence that Funchal has on tourism. Which is why it is necessary to create an adequate transport policy, so that both the needs of residents and tourists are met.
In addition to transport, other issues, such as the price of air travel (it’s cheaper to fly to Brussels from Madeira than it is to fly to Lisbon), operational limitations of Madeira’s Airport due to the lack of new equipment, and the need for a maritime transport policy were raised. On the plus side, Pedro Calado also ensured that the MEP’s were aware of the capital’s sustainable transport polices, and the awards it has won in this area.
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
