The President of the Regional Government again called for “calm” and rejected dramatic interpretations, assuring that his Executive is monitoring the situation daily.
Miguel Albuquerque is not committing, at least for now, to providing support to address the rising fuel prices. Speaking on the sidelines of a conference on Autonomy, which he was to deliver as part of the National Defense Course, the President of the Regional Government asked for “calm” and assured that he is monitoring the situation daily in order to act if necessary.
Faced with the possibility that tuna fishing boats in Madeira might see their operations limited at the start of the annual season, a scenario reported in Monday’s edition of DIÁRIO, the regional executive leader highlighted the support already granted before the price increases.
“Let’s look at the context. We are currently working on the ISP [Tax on petroleum and energy products], and we will wait for the situation to evolve. This is a situation that we are monitoring every day, and therefore we have to be able to look at reality carefully,” he pointed out to journalists upon entering the Noble Hall of the Regional Government.
Expressing concern about the international context, Miguel Albuquerque stressed that it is not worth “dramatising” the situation, pointing out that, in the past, there have been situations where the price of a barrel of oil was $100, as it is currently.
He therefore refuses to make announcements about subsidies without having “control over the situation,” while highlighting the decision taken by the Regional Government to maintain the grain reserve.
Regarding the subsidy-dependence of banana cultivation in Madeira, as pointed out by the European Court of Auditors – another of the highlighted news items in today’s edition of DIÁRIO – the president of the Madeiran Executive speaks of a “truth made in stone,” saying there is no “discovery” in it.