Chega-Madeira believes that the “government has not done everything to maintain the Madeiran – Mainland ferry service” and demands its resumption.
“The outermost condition of the islands of Madeira and Porto Santo imposes increased costs on the transport of goods and aggravates the importance of regular cargo and passenger connections with the continental portion of the Republic.”
Chega states that, over the years, “such situations have become even more painful due to the harmful management that the Regional Government has made of the ports of the Region, as well as the incompetence with which it has faced the various attempts to establish a regular maritime connection, as was once done by ‘Naviera Armas,’ whose loss has constrained access to the islands and affected the mobility of its citizens.
However, the party maintains, “when the priority is the exhibitionism of the Secretary of Tourism and the City Council, there is nothing that is not done to bring cars to the region, using the property of others to entertain the population and promote an electioneering that should shame those who practice it.”
According to Miguel Castro, president of Chega-Madeira, the advantages of a regular maritime operation are known to all, not only because it would symbolise a step towards compliance with the Principle of Territorial Continuity, but also because it would bring transversal benefits to various sectors, from the population itself to the commercial and business sector. “Only those who do not want to help the population or who have something to gain from maintaining the current system of things, which only gives profit to the same as always, punishing the population, merchants, and companies, which already face the highest tax burdens in Europe and a huge decrease in their quality of life, do not see this.”
For the leader of Chega-Madeira, the “poor management” of the maritime link and the “absence of work on the part of the regional rulers” in this sector demonstrate that there is a lack of interest in defending the interests of the population, and creating conditions that allow the economic growth of Madeira and Porto Santo.”
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
