Brava: MpD and PAICV disagree on the proposed loan of 120 million escudos by the municipality

The benches of the Movement for Democracy (MpD – power) and that of the African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV – opposition) differ in opinion regarding the loan proposal by the municipality.

Speaking to Inforpress, after holding the first ordinary session this year, to assess the activities report and management account of the city council for the year 2022, Francisco Tavares, president of the City Council of Brava, considered that the session took place within of normality.

The mayor stressed that deputies have to question and ask for clarification, and that some points the two benches did not converge, but it took place within total normality

On the part of the council, he announced that “important instruments” had been approved, namely the issue of the regulation to introduce the taxi service in the municipality of Brava, the bank loan that will allow the council to convert all the loan it has in its portfolio into another loan, but with better conditions.

Regarding the loan, the mayor emphasized that it also allows the council to have a “slack”, allowing the city council to settle the debts that it currently has with some suppliers and still make investments in about 20 million escudos to fulfill some commitments that the autarchy took over with the electorate, namely with the population of Palhal, Lomba Tantum and Ferreiros, for the construction of the sports board in that locality.

And in this regard, he considered the PAICV bench to have voted against to be a “sadness”, noting that the MpD bench voted in favor and achieved the majority necessary to carry out this negotiation.

"It should be noted that this negotiation will not suffocate the city council in any way in its treasury, compared to what is the bank expense that it has now, so I think that the bench could vote in favor of that", he underlined.

As for the report on activities and the management account, he added that they were evaluated "positively", noting that they achieved an execution rate that exceeds 55 percent (%), in a year in which investments are the second largest since 2012, counting in partnership with the Central Government.

Unanimously, he informed that the proposal for the creation of the Municipal Sports Council and the Municipal Youth Council had been approved, underlining that these councils request that all parties have representation, some institutions, community associations, so that they really are councils that then propose to the autarchy activities and measures in these areas.

For his part, João António Coelho, a member of the PAICV bench, considered that as an opposition and as “development experts” on the island they had done their job.

Even though the session took place in “normality”, it showed that the bench was not satisfied with some of the issues addressed, noting that they received many documents in a hurry and there was no time to do the proper analysis.

He also pointed out the “frequent delays” in holding the sessions, justifying that the February and April sessions regulated by the law governing the MA were only held today, June 20, something that happened in 2021, 2022, and now in 2023.

As for the creation of councils, he underlined that they voted in favor because they are of the opinion that these areas should be streamlined, but as for the taxi service, even though they agreed that this should happen, they abstained because they considered that they should have more information, taking into account that it is a “sensitive issue” and requires a lot of socialization to be able to decide clearly.

Regarding the bank loan worth 120 million escudos, this municipal deputy considered this fact to be “suicide”, justifying that the council has a municipal funding fund that does not reach 60 million escudos, and that positive discrimination, which was used as a campaign flag, has not been done for some time.

In addition, he reinforced that with all the problems in the world context, this loan, to be paid in 20 years, conditions a lot.

“We are waiting for other means, such as resorting to the Government, but the latter is not interested in the island of Brava, and this loan is suicidal and we could not agree, taking into account that there is already a debt of almost 80 million escudos”, he explained.

In addition, he stressed that the elections are already close and making a loan of this magnitude "is more an electoral issue and the money will be used to campaign, in addition to there being no coherence in relation to the debts of the chamber".

Reacting to the statements by the opposition bench, Francisco Tavares considered that the PAICV bench did “very badly”, recalling that the municipal mandate is four years and the election will probably be in October or November 2023.

“If the council stops making investments and ceases to function for all that time, it is too much and incomprehensible”, concluded the mayor, stressing that there is a law that provides from which time the chamber must only carry out operating acts and not investments .