The secretary-general of Juntos Pelo Povo (JPP) and leader of the opposition guaranteed this Saturday, in the parish of Ilha, in Santana, that his party “will put agriculture on the priority agenda of the alternative government”, explaining that “we need a regional strategy for valuing regional products and promoting increased consumption of these products, which also involves public institutions, schools, homes and hospitals preferring products from the region when hiring”.
Élvio Sousa, accompanied by other leaders, visited this Saturday’s Lemon Festival in the parish of Ilha, in the municipality of Santana, and praised the event’s importance for those who work the land.
“We’re consuming tons of imported lemons when we should be highlighting the quality of Madeira’s lemons and promoting their consumption, particularly in association with the sale of other products and the traditional poncha,” he said. “There has clearly been an increase in the consumption of regional products and this growth should boost production and increase producers’ incomes. What’s missing here is a ferry link, which would help get our products abroad quickly and with the guarantee of greater freshness, but this link doesn’t exist due to a lack of political will on the part of the PSD government, preventing our economy from expanding.”
Élvio Sousa took advantage of the event to analyze the latest figures released by Madeira’s Regional Statistics Directorate (DREM) a week ago. The figures prove that the JPP is right when it says that Miguel Albuquerque’s PSD has “devalued agriculture” and the rural world.
“The increase in tourism should boost regional production, but it doesn’t,” he points out. “The agricultural sector was the only one with negative indicators in the latest data on the regional economy. Banana sales fell by 4.9%, egg production by 4.7%, chicken slaughter by 12.7% and cattle slaughter by 8.3%. In annual terms, all the variables fell, except for chicken slaughter, which grew by 1.1%”.
The JPP leader assumes that as leader of the opposition, the party will remain “uncompromising” in its “permanent monitoring of the government”, guaranteeing that the approach to issues will always be accompanied by solutions.
“The latest figures show the decline of agriculture, we cannot allow the PSD to continue down this path,” he said. “In view of the lack of value placed on the product and the difficulty in selling lemons, problems that have been repeated by producers, we will have to adopt a real policy of certifying traditional products, and this presupposes frank dialogue with producers, training actions and moving towards a professional approach to the sector, a very different path from the amateurishness we have seen in recent years.”
in Jornal da Madeira
Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Department (MCLL) as part of Bruma Publication and MDI (Madeira Diaspora Initiative at California State University, Fresno, PBBI thanks Luso Financial for sponsoring NOVIDADES.
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