Five days after, following the suspension of an intervention identified by the Regional Directorate for the Environment and the Sea (DRAM) on land located on the seafront in the Portinho area, Caniço, this morning, a sign with a construction works permit was found on site.
According to a statement from the Regional Secretariat of Tourism, Environment and Culture, the permit with number 37/13/LIC, under the responsibility of the Santa Cruz City Council, was issued on 11/6/2024 in the name of Portinho – Investimento e Projetos Imobiliários, S.A. The works were licensed for 36 months.
However, to date, DRAM, the entity responsible for monitoring activities that take place on the coast, has not yet received any response from the Santa Cruz City Council, although on Friday morning it sent a request for clarification regarding the intervention at the site.
In a letter sent to the Santa Cruz City Council last Friday, DRAM noted that it is the administrative entity for the Maritime Public Domain (DPM) in the Autonomous Region of Madeira and requested that the municipality provide information as quickly as possible on whether any type of license had been granted, “having observed that demolition and topographical alteration work, subject to municipal licensing, was being carried out in the Portinho area of Caniço, on the coastline, using machinery, without any type of authorization having been issued by this service.” With the lack of a response, the illegal situation thus remains.
Furthermore, to date, DRAM has not yet had access to the final project of the work planned for the site, in order to monitor and verify whether the constraints were accommodated and good practices ensured in its execution.
DRAM emphasizes that it does not oppose any private investment that takes place in the area, as long as it is legal, as it is an urban planning option of the municipality.
“It is in the DRAM’s interest to safeguard the public interest, namely by ensuring that property is transferred for the construction of a promenade and public access to the beach, as required by the Regional Government in the context of the suspension of the Master Plan,” the ministry emphasizes.