As our readers know, the Autonomous Region of the Azores will have an early parliamentary election on Sunday, February 4th. Through NOVIDADES (the islands and the diaspora), we continue, twice weekly, with the feature, Navigating the Political Tides: Election Updates from the Azores. This is done in collaboration with the Diário Insular newspaper from Terceira Island. So twice a week, until Friday, Feb 2nd, NOVIDADES will feature a synopsis of their excellent political coverage, with the intent of bringing awareness to the diaspora of all that is happening in the Azores and how the various political forces look at the future of the archipelago. This project is put forth by Bruma Publications, with the Azorean Diaspora Fourm from PBBI-Fresno State in partnership with Diário Insular, José Lourenço-director, and Armando Mendes, PhD, editor-in-chief.

PARTY CONSIDERS IT “URGENT” TO IMPLEMENT MEASURES

PAN wants the protection of game species

The PAN/Açores consider it “urgent” to implement measures to protect game species.
Following a meeting this week with the Portuguese Society for the Study of Birds (SPEA), PAN/Açores, spokesman and leader Pedro Neves said that “among the concerns expressed by the experts is the hunting of blackbirds, wood pigeons, and turtledoves, announced by the Regional Government in September last year, especially if we take into account that these species benefit from EU protected species status and the number of existing individuals does not allow us to conclude that the existing population is stable.”
Pedro Neves pointed out that “this situation has raised doubts for the party, due to the methodology used to count the population, as well as whether they are actually responsible for the damage caused to Pico’s agricultural sector, especially considering the diet of these animals.”
To this end, the PAN/Açores believes that it is “urgent to implement measures that guarantee the protection and well-being of game species, not only through their proper management, valuing the scientific knowledge of specialists, but also by monitoring the activity and improving the careers of nature wardens, an important partner in ecological restoration.”
In addition, Pedro Neves said that the PAN/Açores “was sensitive to the report of the SPEA’s financial constraints, with an impact on the development of some projects that are not 100% funded, making it difficult to carry out certain actions, essentially those involving the hiring of human resources.”

PARTY REGRETS “ABANDONMENT” OF THE SECTOR

PS promises cultural reform

The PS/Azores candidate for president of the government of the Azores in the February 4 elections, Vasco Cordeiro, promised “reform in the Culture sector” if the party “is called upon to form the next Regional Government.”
“Culture is a factor in the development of our communities and deserves a new look and a new perspective,” said Vasco Cordeiro after three years of neglect by the PSD/CDS/PPM regional government.
The Socialist was speaking after a visit to the Francisco de Lacerda Museum in Calheta, São Jorge, “a project launched and completed by the last PS government in 2020”.
Vasco Cordeiro stressed that “it’s important” to avoid what has been a constant over the last three years, in which the PSD/CDS/PPM regional government has failed to respond and fulfill commitments.”
Faced with this reality, the candidate for president of the Regional Government considered it “important and necessary that, in the next legislature, we rethink how the public authorities, and in particular the Region and the Regional Government, relate to the Culture sector.”
“Culture must relate to other areas of community life, such as education and social intervention, making and asserting itself more and more, not as a compartment of public action, but as a transversal vector to various areas of public intervention, with the ultimate aim of contributing and being an instrument and tool for the development and progress of our communities,” he concluded.

PSD/CDS/PPM COALITION HIGHLIGHTS “SUCCESS” OF THE PROGRAM

Two hundred Azoreans have joined the “New Elderly” program

The PSD/CDS/PP Coalition candidate for Terceira’s constituency in the February 4 elections highlighted “the success achieved by the innovative ‘New Elderly’ Program,” to which “more than two hundred” Azoreans have signed up.
The program, financed by EU funds from the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR), is aimed at elderly people aged 65 and over, “allowing them to choose, with freedom, to continue living in their own home, with their family and community.”
During a visit to Lar D. Pedro V, the institution where the “New Elderly” Program is based, Artur Lima highlighted its acceptance in the municipality of Praia da Vitória, praising “the commitment of the professionals from the partner institutions who made this dream a reality.”
In Terceira, 50 elderly people are part of the program, corresponding to 49 home caregivers and four specialized senior technicians hired by Lar D. Pedro V.
Artur Lima highlighted “the innovative nature of the measure, which was entirely conceived and put into practice by the Coalition Government, and which is unparalleled by any other on a national scale.”
“This program is already the future,” said the candidate, considering it “a unique response to the major challenges of an ageing population”. Through this program, “the ability of the elderly to continue living in their own homes, autonomously, is stimulated, but supported by entities that provide services and aids that are fundamental to daily life,” being “a proximity measure that promotes healthy and active aging, dignifying the person by giving them back the voice to decide if they want to grow old in an institution or if they want to grow old in their own home,” said Artur Lima.
The candidate pointed out that “the adherence of the elderly to the Programme means a relief of pressure on homes and other Residential Structures for the Elderly (ERPI), and the important role of the Misericórdias and IPSS in its implementation is to be commended.”
The first phase of the program, which is currently in full operation in the municipalities of Praia da Vitória, Ponta Delgada, Horta, Lagoa, and Vila Franca do Campo, covered the municipalities with the lowest effective coverage rates for elderly people in ERPIs.
Since the start of the program in June 2022, around 1.5 million euros have already been invested, resulting in the progressive placement of 206 elderly people in the five municipalities already covered, with a total of 193 home caregivers and 18 specialized senior technicians hired by the IPSS and Misericórdias.

PARTY LAMENTS EDUCATION ISSUES IN THE AZORES

The government has not solved education problems.

The head of the BE list for Terceira in the regional elections on February 4, Alexandra Manes, said that “the right-wing government has not solved the structural problems of education” and that there is still a lack of staff in schools and educational establishments needing maintenance work.
On a visit this week to the Francisco Ornelas da Câmara School in Praia da Vitória, Alexandra Manes said that “the number of operational assistants in the region’s schools is very old and this means that there are many situations of long-term sick leave for health reasons”.
“Faced with this situation, the government has opted to employ more people through occupational programs,” she said.
For the BE, “the solution has to be to set up recruitment pools, within the framework of staff competitions, in which, in the event of need, candidates are already identified and ranked, so that they can be replaced quickly.”
“This is the solution that best serves the school because it quickly solves the problem of staff shortages and respects people because there is an employment contract with rights instead of a grant through an occupational program,” said Alexandra Manes.
According to the candidate, “operational assistants are fundamental to the running of the school and the safety of the children”.
In addition, Alexandra Manes warned of the need “to assign each school the number of staff according to the particular needs of each school, taking into account the characteristics of the buildings and the pupils, as there are children who need more monitoring than others.”
As for the condition of the infrastructure, the BE’s first candidate for Terceira gave the example of “leaking ceilings that put fire systems at risk, because some have to be turned off”.
“In a region with an early school leaving rate, how can schools not have a better environment and better conditions to be an attractive place?” she asked.

PARTY CONCERNED WITH LAJES

Urgent” intervention at Lajes Airfield

The head of the Liberal Initiative (IL) list for the Terceira constituency in the February 4 regional elections, Pedro Ferreira, defends “urgent intervention in the maintenance of the Lajes Civil Aerogare”, as well as “speed in the process of expanding that infrastructure to the former Navy hangar”.
During a visit to the site, the candidate identified “serious structural problems in terms of the safety of the infrastructure”, lamenting “the terrible image that Terceira gives to those who use the terminal and to those who arrive on the island or enter the Azores through this gate”.
“The Lajes terminal has structural problems in terms of infrastructure safety that put passengers, employees, apron equipment and aircraft at risk. This is a building that is several years old, has never had any kind of maintenance and urgently needs investment to avoid serious problems,” he said.
According to Pedro Ferreira, “all you have to do is look at the dead pigeons, the holes in the metal fencing structures, the drains that run into pedestrian areas, creating slippery sludge areas, and what’s on the plaque is important to clean and preserve”.
“Not to mention the old Navy hangar, the old cargo terminal, which is abandoned and should be the next stage in the expansion of the terminal, which is essential if we are to provide a better response to the passengers who come to Terceira and who end up entering the Azores through Terceira,” he said.
Therefore, he concluded, “it is urgent that the Region has the capacity to present the project to expand the terminal and quickly carry out the necessary maintenance work on the infrastructure”.

JPP CRITICIZES

Governments have forgotten everyone in the western part of São Miguel

Juntos pelo Povo (JPP) criticized that the westernmost part of São Miguel has been “forgotten by successive governments.”
On a visit to Mosteiros, the JPP/Azores coordinator said, “it is urgent to reconfigure the regional road that connects the center of Ponta Delgada to all the parishes in the west of the municipality”.
According to Carlos Furtado, “the journey to the parish of Mosteiros takes approximately 50 minutes, on a route of around 30 km”, and there are “many people who make the journey every day to go to work, spending more than 300 hours a year on these journeys, many of them driving dangerously, given the road conditions”.
For the candidate, it is necessary to “increase safety on the route in question, reducing journey times and creating conditions for citizens who use public transport daily.”
The JPP coordinator said that “this is an excellent contribution to reducing the incidence of ageing in the more rural parishes, in other words, by reducing travel time and costs, and to encourage families to settle down, as they travel many kilometers every day to get to work”.
Carlos Furtado said that “this route meets all the conditions to be the experimental model for implementing a JPP proposal, the ‘Single Ticket’, for journeys by public transport,” stressing that “the success of the initiative will be guaranteed and that for this reason, there will soon be a need to extend it to the regional dimension.”

In Diario Insular

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–PBBI thanks the sponsorship of the Luso-American Development Foundation from Lisbon, Portugal (FLAD)