PS DEFENDS URGENT INTERVENTION IN THE ESCARPMENT OF THE RIBEIRA BRAVA SEAFRONT

So now I know why it was closed yesterday….

The PS councilor at the Ribeira Brava City Council, Olga Fernandes, defended an urgent intervention in the cliff face overlooking the coastal road between the village of Ribeira Brava and Tabua, in order to guarantee the necessary safety conditions for those who circulate there.

In a statement, the PS warns that, on the 19th, there was a detachment of large rocks, which ended up hitting the carriageway, the bike path and the pedestrian part, a situation that, “luckily, did not cause any injuries. for the simple fact that no one was there at that moment”.

This event led to the closure of the waterfront, and, as Olga Fernandes says, the matter has already been taken to the City Council meeting, without anything having been done regarding the cleaning and consolidation of the overhanging escarpment.

The socialist councilor, who is also a deputy in the regional Parliament, recalls that the new road was inaugurated on August 28, 2020 and has already been closed countless times to traffic and passersby, precisely because stones fall frequently. As he says, “this was a work carried out through a program contract with the Regional Government, whose investment was paid with money and under law, so this intervention should have included the cleaning of the escarpment, which did not happen”, refers to the same note.

Olga Fernandes warns that, although the waterfront has covered spaces, there are others that are in the open, exposing more insecurity to the movement of people and vehicles.

“What has happened in the past and has happened again is that no one takes action”, denounces the councilor, questioning whether the most dangerous areas will be covered, which should have occurred when the work was carried out.

“Nature has given more than evident signs of the instability of that escarpment, as rockslides happen both in winter and in summer, and the solution has only been to close down”, says the socialist, stressing that it is up to to the competent authorities to intervene as soon as possible, through an assessment by technicians from the Regional Civil Engineering Laboratory and rockers, in order to monitor the escarpment and find out if there are actually conditions to keep the Ribeira Brava-Tabua waterfront open.

From Jornal Madeira

Another huge expense of tax payers money, where the job has not been thought out, done to stop this situation, and will probably eventually be left to go to ruin like so many other spaces on the island. 

All this building of new properties, in these areas the same with Calheta makes you wonder how much more damage will be done, making dangerous situations for the public.