Brava's new health center still hasn't come off the drawing board after more than three years of promises

The promise to build a new health infrastructure for the island was initially announced with enthusiasm by Prime Minister Ulisses Correia e Silva in 2022, who highlighted the importance of the work in reducing medical evacuations and improving care for the population. However, time passed, the announcements were repeated, but the machines never reached the ground.

The project came to public prominence in 2023, when the Cape Verdean government, through the Ministry of Health, guaranteed that funding had been secured and that the location of the new health unit had already been identified. At the time, the authorities assured that the procedures would be accelerated and that the start of construction was imminent.

However, it was only in September 2024 - more than two years after the initial promise - that the Ministry of Infrastructure announced the opening of the public tender for the contract. The measure was publicized as a significant step forward, just a month before the local elections, and was even highlighted in local political speeches as a sign of commitment and progress.

Despite the announcement, to date there is no visible sign of work starting. There is no machinery on the ground, nor any movement or initial structure to indicate that the project has started. Worse still: the local and national authorities have maintained a remarkable silence on the current state of the process, fueling speculation and distrust among the island's residents.

The Bravense population, which for years has faced severe limitations in access to health care, is no longer hiding its discontent. The island's current health center operates in precarious conditions and is unable to meet most of the local medical needs. Cases considered to be of medium or high complexity continue to be evacuated to other islands, such as Fogo and Santiago, with all the associated risks, costs and inconvenience.

"It's always the same talk. They say it's going to start, they launch tenders, but then everything stays the same. We're tired," says a resident of Nova Sintra.

Other residents point to what they call the "political rehashing" of the promise. "Every time there are elections, they talk about the health center. We're used to it and we're counting on this promise next year. But health can't be a campaign promise. It's a necessity," says a local health technician.

The new health center, according to the project announced in 2024, would include modern consulting rooms, a maternity ward, a laboratory and an emergency service, with the aim of guaranteeing basic and specialized care on the island.

The Minister of Health even declared in 2023 that the infrastructure "would transform the reality of health on Brava and substantially reduce medical evacuations". However, without concrete progress, the government's words have lost credibility in the eyes of those who need it most: the population.

While the official silence persists, pressure for transparency and accountability is growing. Community associations, health professionals and organized citizens have been calling for the government to make public the current state of the process, the reason for the delay and the new timetable for the start of the works.

"We want to know: has the tender been awarded? Who won? What is the deadline for starting construction? Or was it all just another political maneuver?" asks a local civil society representative.

Without these answers, mistrust deepens and the country's smallest island continues, paradoxically, to face the biggest health challenges.

The soap opera of the Brava Health Center has become a symbol of unfulfilled promises, recycled speeches and postponed priorities. The population is still waiting - not just for a building project, but for a right: dignified access to health. More than three years on from the first announcement, the question that echoes through the streets of Nova Sintra and across the island is direct and simple: until when?