Yesterday Luís Miguel de Sousa came under cross-examination about the Sousa’s lack of performance with regard to the inter-island ferry (Tenerife-Madeira-Mainland), whose service was suspended after two years as the Sousa group deemed it unprofitable, and needed compensatory compensation to keep it running. Today, it was the turn of the AFA Group President, José Avelino Farinha.
This enquiry has been set up to investigate ‘the favouring of certain economic groups by the Regional Government, the President of the Regional Government and Regional Secretaries and ‘invented works’, in view of the confession by former Regional Secretary, Sérgio Marques, that the Regional Government was and is favouring the needs of its friends, rather than the needs of the region.
Unlike Luís Miguel de Sousa, Avelino Farinha came across as pithy and bored with the situation, stating that he was attending the Regional Parliament for a second time! And that he was “very sad to have to repeat himself for a second time, and obviously had not explained himself satisfactorily the first time around!” Furthermore, he pledged that he would answer all ‘concrete (no pun intended!) and objective’ questions put to him, but confessed he was unable to see into people’s minds, stating, “I am not a politician, I am not a journalist, I am not a commentator. I’m an entrepreneur and I’m available to talk about my company.”
After completing the initial interview he snapped that in Madeira, if you were successful, you are seen as a ‘thief!’
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
