The Santa Cruz City Council reacted, in a statement, to the presence of businessman Paulo Lima at the ceremony for the installation and swearing-in of the new municipal bodies, which took place yesterday. The businessman appeared with a megaphone that read ‘Élia Ascensão is a liar! I can prove it’, but ended up not causing any tension at the event.
In a statement issued this Tuesday, the municipality considers “the acts and inscriptions that offend the good name of Mayor Élia Ascensão, which the businessman displayed yesterday at a solemn event, to be regrettable at all levels.” The municipality adds that “the businessman’s attitude is even more regrettable when it is known that the Administrative and Tax Court of Funchal has already ruled that the aforementioned businessman is illegally occupying public space with the construction of a container and terrace on the Reis Magos promenade.”
According to the City Council, “the placement of the container was done without a license from the municipality, when the law is clear on the obligation of such a license, and after the aforementioned businessman had destroyed and rendered unusable several pieces of gym equipment that were for the use of the population. In other words, he not only occupied public space without a license, but also savagely destroyed equipment that belonged to everyone.”
To be fair the gym equipment was not fit for use, the the Santa Cruz council are talking crap about that, but I also wouldn’t have much good to say about the bar, as the drinks served were awful, and regret spending my time there.
The local authority further emphasizes that “the businessman in question has no grounds for his claims, as he has shown omissions, abuses, and criminal behavior towards public spaces and equipment throughout this process,” reinforcing that “what is being argued is not any persecutory attitude towards the businessman Paulo Lima, but rather the defense of legality and public space as a common good.”
“To avoid any doubt, we describe the decision of the Administrative and Tax Court of Funchal, which clearly states that ‘the construction work of the container, consisting of the installation of a bar and terrace, as an urban development operation, requires the Applicant to initiate the licensing procedure (cf. article 4, paragraph a), of the RJUE) since the title of use of water resources does not confer the right to build without prior licensing from the City Council’. In other words, contrary to what the businessman claimed, the license issued by the Regional Secretariat for the Environment, Natural Resources and Climate Change is not sufficient.”
The municipality explains that, “given the above, and since the businessman did not respect the injunctions or the demolition orders, the local authority initiated legal proceedings for the crime of disobedience against Paulo Lima, and, having obtained favorable decisions from the competent Court, can execute what the law allows it, namely the demolition of the structure and the reimbursement of the costs of this operation to the owner of the illegal container. This is because its final decision has already been issued and was to not license the container in question.”
Finally, the Santa Cruz City Council states that “it is not against private investment, which will always be welcome, but it cannot condone abuses, illegalities, destruction of heritage and uncontrolled occupation of public space. If it were to condone all this, it would also be committing illegal acts and, above all, it would be having a harmful and discriminatory attitude towards all entrepreneurs who comply with the law.”
The local authority concludes, therefore, that its position aims to “defend legality and public space as a common good,” maintaining the legal process and the intention to proceed with the demolition of the illegal structure on the Reis Magos promenade.