CM São Vicente
José Carlos Gonçalves (Chega), mayor of São Vicente
José Carlos Gonçalves was surprised by the vote against the reopening of the caves in São Vicente. “They must resign, it was a betrayal.”
In last year’s legislative elections, Saint Vincent became a historic place in politics in Portugal: it was the first City Council conquered by He arrives. But now there is an internal “scolding”.
The president of the Municipal Council of São Vicente, the only municipality in Chega in Madeira, said that removed the portfolios to the other two councilors of the party that voted against your proposal for reopening of the caves in that municipality.
“I went surprised with the position of councilors Fábio Costa and Helena Freitas who voted against the proposal at the last meeting, which aimed to to fulfill one promise election made to the population of São Vicente, trigger the process for the reopening of the caves”, said José Carlos Gonçalves to the Lusa agency.
The head of this municipality on the north coast of Madeira assured that he has the support of regional structures, the municipal assembly, parish councils and elements of the local authority, which is why he attests not feel isolated, avoiding the scenario of mid-term elections to resolve the dispute.
“São Vicente is not going to the elections. São Vicente is doing well, will continue to do well and we will serve the population of our municipality well”, guaranteed José Carlos, later.
According to the mayor, the councilwoman Helena Freitas wasn’t even at that meeting weekly meeting of the council and issued a proxy indicating his voting direction, against the president’s proposal.
“All the documentation on this point on the agenda, with more than 90 pages, was provided at the beginning of the week to all councilors. They had time to analyze it”, he highlighted.
José Carlos Gonçalves argued that he is always available to meet with the other members of the council and that never been contacted on the subject.
The São Vicente council is made up of three elected representatives from Chega (the president and two councilors) and two from the PSD. The Municipal Assembly includes eight deputies from Chega, six from the PSD/CDS-PP coalition and one from the PS.
The mayor of the municipality argues that, given this situation, the Chega councilors “must resign from their mandate and allow its replacement by the following elements on the list”.
“It was a betrayal what they did, not to me, José Carlos Gonçalves, but to the population of São Vicente, to the Vincentians, because the reopening of the caves is an electoral promise not only from Chega, but also from the PSD”, he maintained.
The mayor said that he had already met with councilor Fábio Costa and he told him that “removed political confidence from the president of the City Council.”
“We were elected to serve the interests of Vincentians and not personal interests”, he stressed, adding that he hoped that they would reconsider their position and honor the commitment for which they were elected.
The São Vicente caves are a 700-meter route, of volcanic origin, which, according to experts, are 890 thousand years old and were opened to the public in 1996 under the management of Naturnorte – Gestão de Equipamentos Coletivos e Prestação de Serviços, a municipal entity owned by the São Vicente City Council.
This ‘ex-libris’ of the municipality of São Vicente was closed on March 16, 2020, following the Covid-19 pandemic, but was not reopened due to the risk of collapse detected by technicians.
Lusa tried to contact Chega’s regional leader about this situation, but it was not possible to obtain his position on the matter.
José Carlos Gonçalves also announced a press conference for Tuesday to talk about this situation.
