The PS accused the regional government of leaving Terceira “abandoned.” In reaction, the PSD and CDS-PP recalled the promises made by the Socialist executives that remained unfulfilled or were fulfilled years later.
In a debate on Education, Berto Messias (PS) took to the rostrum to recall that José Manuel Bolieiro promised, as leader of the PSD, to pay “great attention to strengthening the centrality of Terceira island,” claiming that this did not materialize.
“On Terceira Island, what the Regional Government did was to inaugurate the works that came from behind with pomp and circumstance, curiously without making a single reference to the fact that they were inaugurating works and investments developed by the previous government,” he pointed out.
According to the Socialist Regional Deputy, the strategic pillars of Terceira Island are “moribund and degraded.”
“Now they’re saying that they want to increase the quay bridge [at the Port of Praia da Vitória], that they’ve already got the project consigned, without really understanding what they want to do from a strategic point of view,” he said.
At the Lajes Civil Aerogare, he said that the only “major strategic investment” was a boarding gate and warned of the “lack of supply in the winter operation in terms of flights to the island.”

“Terceira is abandoned to its fate and is regressing several years after what was achieved,” he accused.
For Berto Messias, the lack of “concrete measures to increase the island’s competitiveness” is a “major political defeat for Terceira’s political protagonists in this Regional Government.”
“Could this be revenge on the part of some government colleagues, given Artur Lima’s statements when he said that he only made a coalition because he was president of the José Manuel Bolieiro government and that he wouldn’t make one with previous leaders, including, for example, the Secretary of Finance, Duarte Freitas, or the Secretary of Transport and Public Works, Berta Cabral? Are they taking revenge on their fellow vice-president and turning off the tap on their public investments?” he asked.
“For the first time in the history of democratic autonomy, a parliamentary term will end and Terceira Island will not have a strategic public investment that can be seen and that actually improves the lives of the people of Terceira and the Azores,” he added.
Delayed promises
There was also criticism of the Socialist government from the PSD benches. Paulo Gomes recalled the promises made by the PS for the island of Terceira in recent decades and the delays in carrying out the work.
“Angra do Heroísmo Public Library and Regional Archive promised in 1997, inaugurated in 2016, 19 years later; Lajes Civil Aerogare Cargo Terminal promised in 2006 inaugurated in 2021, 15 years later and poorly done; Terceira Island Multisectoral Park promised in 2008, inaugurated in 2018, 10 years later; Porto das Pipas Passenger Terminal promised in 2012, eight years later the PS failed to complete it and it will be this government that will inaugurate it,” he pointed out, adding the implementation of radiotherapy at Terceira Island Hospital, promised in 2012.

Paulo Gomes also argued that “never has Terceira Island had so many flights, so many arrivals and so many departures” and “never has the tourist economy had so much income as with this government,” claiming that investment is planned to increase the capacity of the Lajes terminal.
The vice-chairman of the PSD parliamentary group also stressed that it was the current government that resolved the licensing of the Americans’ neighborhood in Santa Rita, the conversion of the Nossa Senhora de Fátima neighborhood and the Terra Chã neighborhood and the São Brás subdivision.
Luís Soares, from the PSD, also pointed out the shortcomings of the PS government, accusing Berto Messias of being “linked” to years of misfortune in the Port of Praia da Vitória.
“With this government, the extension of pier -12, which will allow ships to dock, [and the cruise pier] will be in Praia da Vitória. The ship repair area in Praia da Vitória, a place with extraordinary potential, is a real Dantesque scenario, it’s a piece of junk. They’ve allowed a hydrolift that costs millions to deteriorate because of a fault that didn’t cost 30,000 [euros]. And this is strategic thinking for Praia da Vitória?” he asked.
In his reply, the Socialist MP pointed out that the Terceira Island Council had decided not to give its opinion on the proposed Investment Plan 2024 “given its lack of sustainability and truth.”

A flawed legacy
Pedro Pinto, from the CDS-PP, pointed out that “this month, Lajes airport once again broke the record for passengers embarking and disembarking,” approaching 900,000 passengers.
“Centrality is also measured by the number of passengers passing through that infrastructure. There is an effective paradigm shift on Terceira Island,” he stressed.
The Conservative Deputy recalled the “inheritance” received from the previous government, giving as an example the “cargo terminal full of defects,” where “30 anomalies” were detected in an inspection of the work.
“This government had to buy cold storage containers to increase the cold storage capacity, which was lower than before,” he said.
As for the Port of Praia da Vitória, the conservative deputy accused the PS of making “headlines” with the Costa project, the logistics hub, and the transshipment terminal, which never materialized.

Pedro Pinto also listed the construction of a reversible hydroelectric power station, the works at Porto das Pipas, and the shipyards in Praia da Vitória among the works promised by the PS that have not been completed.
He also accused the previous government of having left the American neighborhoods next to the Lajes Base “abandoned to pillage.”
“If you look at the Plan and Budget, which your excellency has already announced he will fail, there is the rehabilitation of the American neighborhoods. They let it deteriorate so much that now it will take tens of millions of euros to rehabilitate it,” he said.
In response, the Socialist MP said that it was the island’s businessmen who were expressing “concerns about the brutal drop in flights to Terceira in the coming months” and recalled that at the inauguration of the project, the vice-president of the Regional Government “praised the strategic importance of the cargo terminal.”

in Diário Insular, José Lourenço-director

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Cultures Department (MCLL) as part of Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance)  at California State University, Fresno.