The lack of water, the deterioration of buildings, and the lack of maintenance of the apartments in Quintas do Mar, in Rabo de Peixe, on the island of São Miguel, led residents to report the situation to Diário da Lagoa. The case prompted the Left Bloc to question the Regional Housing Directorate. However, the responses from the authorities contradict the residents’ version, who say they are “stunned” by the official explanations.

Diário da Lagoa reported the complaints of residents in Quintas do Mar, in the village of Rabo de Peixe, regarding the lack of maintenance in the apartments, failures in the water supply, and the successive lack of response from the authorities. Following the news published by our newspaper, the Left Bloc submitted a request to the Azores Government with a set of questions related to the residents’ dissatisfaction.

In response to the Left Bloc’s request, the Regional Housing Directorate confirmed that “in December 2023, there was a breakdown in the hydropressor group (…) which affected the water supply in some apartments.”

Following this incident, and given the urgent need to repair the water pump, the Regional Housing Directorate opted “in December 2023 to install a temporary pump, on loan, after contacting the company Sousa & Garcês.”

The DRH adds that, during 2024, “a proposal for a definitive solution was received from the condominium administration,” which involved “installing a hydropressor unit with two pumps, an electrical panel, and cleaning the reservoir.”

At the end of 2024, the management of the apartments was transferred to a new condominium company – Loja do Condomínio (without any known justification for this) – which carried out a “technical assessment in August 2025 that concluded that the pressure of the public network was sufficient, even excessive for the existing piping,” which is why it was decided to “disconnect the hydropressor unit and install a flow reducer.”

In the same request, in response to the Left Bloc, the Regional Housing Directorate states that “the occurrence of flooding due to overpressure in May 2025 has not been confirmed”. It assures that the water quality is “legally compliant for human consumption,” adding that the other interventions—doors, windows, and total removal of the playground—are in accordance with a “schedule scheduled to begin during the second half of 2025.”

In response, the group of residents who reported the incidents to Diário da Lagoa last August did not hide their “astonishment” at the responses of the Azores Government/Regional Housing Directorate to the Left Bloc’s request.

“We never had a loaned water pump and we had several weeks of water shortages between December and January 2023. It was the company Sousa & Garcês that managed to remedy the situation, which has remained unchanged since then. More recently, new problems have arisen with the pipes rotting and full of rust. For safety reasons, they chose to turn off the pump without warning the residents and installed a flow reducer. We only noticed this because the water pressure was not enough to take a shower because the water heaters did not work,” the residents explained when contacted by Diário da Lagoa.

“Why has the government not clarified why some condominium owners have already paid for a new pump that has still not been installed? Or why does it mention excessive pressure and deny the existence of flooding due to overpressure when at least four condominium owners have complained (and reported to the DRH) about flooding in their apartments due to burst pipes? And why was a DRH technician surveying the damage? And why did they refer to the contracts in force and, after four months, no official response has been given to the complaints submitted?” the same residents ask.

They also lamented that “little or nothing has been said about replacing broken doors, unsafe water, electricity, and gas niches, removing the playground that has been in poor condition for several years, various leaks from the second floor to the garages, or the lack of protection for the electrical panel in the garage.”

On the same day that the Azores Government issued its response to the Left Bloc’s request, EDA notified the condominium that the electricity supply to the common areas of the buildings located on Misericórdia, Providence, Hamilton, and Bermudas streets would be interrupted due to non-payment of overdue bills.

In Diário da Lagoa, Clife Botelho-director.

Translated into English as a community outreach program by the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Department (MCLL), in collaboration with Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance) at California State University, Fresno. PBBI thanks Luso Financial for sponsoring NOVIDADES.