The Terceira Island Council decided not to issue a general opinion on the preliminary proposal for the Azores Investment Plan for 2026, focusing only on the document’s positive or negative aspects. “As in previous years, we have not issued a positive or negative qualitative opinion. We believe it is much more useful to point out the positive and negative aspects of this plan,” said Marcos Couto, president of the Terceira Island Council, yesterday. The opinion, which was voted on unanimously yesterday, lists four positive and four negative points in the document concerning Terceira Island.

For several years, the Terceira Island Council has chosen not to comment on the preliminary proposal for the Region’s Investment Plan. “The island council is an advisory body, not an executive body, so in our view, it does not have to give positive or negative opinions. Issuing a positive or negative opinion empties the content of the opinion itself, since we are left with either the positive or the negative,” explained Marcos Couto.

This year, the Faial Island Council also decided to note only the positive and negative aspects of the document. “The important thing for the island council is to highlight what we believe to be positive and what is negative and deserves our concern. We are very pleased that more island councils in the Azores are following our example,” said the president of the Terceira Island Council.

In addition to analyzing the draft Investment Plan, the opinion of the Terceira Island Council issues a warning in an introductory note about the model of development of the Azores’ autonomy. “It is becoming increasingly clear that this autonomy is not sustainable and needs to be structurally rethought. For a poor region like ours, with 230,000 people, having a parliament that consumes €17 million of the budget is a clear sign that we need to thoroughly review the sustainability of autonomy itself,“ said Marcos Couto. The councilors decided to convene a new meeting soon ”to discuss this issue in depth.” The councilors highlighted the “clearly reduced” allocation for road and agricultural path paving, the intervention in the Terra Chã neighborhood, and the renovation of the Biscoitos Basic and Integrated School.

“The issue that raised the most perplexity among the councilors was the fact that SEEBMO [Specialized Service of Epidemiology and Molecular Biology of the Hospital of Santo Espírito on Terceira Island], a regional reference laboratory, had its investment completely cut when a new building was announced a few years ago,“ said Marcos Couto, noting that the laboratory ”played an essential role during COVID-19.” On the positive side, the councilors listed the expansion of the Terceira Island Science and Technology Park (Terinov) and the refurbishment of the former US Air Force school next to Lajes Base, an “infrastructure with enormous potential.” They also highlighted the works at the port of Praia da Vitória and the refurbishment of the Jerónimo Emiliano de Andrade Secondary School, which has been underway since 2023.

In Diário Insular – José Lourenço, 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.