Alberto Nunes demarcates himself from any action by the president of the Association of Municipalities of Fogo and Brava for being “illegitimate”

Following the signing of an addendum on behalf of the Association of the Municipalities of Fogo and Brava in which he himself participated, Alberto Nunes said he distanced himself from the form of communication made because, he explained, “it is not serious”, since the installation of teaching higher education in the region is not the responsibility of the municipalities. He recalled that the statute of the municipalities establishes that the competence of the municipalities covers only kindergartens, leaving basic, secondary and higher education in the competence of the Government.

“The installation of higher education is the responsibility of the Government, with the partnership of the university and the city councils. It is a collective work”, said Alberto Nunes, adding that there is an attempt on the part of the municipality of São Filipe to distort the facts, implying that the work is done only by the city council of São Filipe.

“The Association of the Municipalities of Fogo and Brava is being used for personal promotion. Communication and attitudes have to be corrected”, said Alberto Nunes, recalling that the brother of the mayor of São Filipe has been running a campaign on social networks without Nuías Silva taking measures to prevent him from doing so.

The mayor of Santa Catarina do Fogo recalled that the one who is rehabilitating the space of the former delegation of the Ministry of Education in São Filipe to house administrative services and who pays the rent of the Maternal House is the Government of Cape Verde, stressing that the participation of local authorities it boils down to the payment of expenses with the consumption of water, electricity, internet and some subsidies.

“I have intellectual responsibility in addition to political responsibility and I cannot mortgage intellectual responsibility for political issues”, said Alberto Nunes who does not subscribe to the communication from the president of the association because “it is not serious” and because the Government is the mentor of the installation process of the higher education and city councils are just partners.

According to the same, the board of directors of the Association of Municipalities of Fogo and Brava should be under the presidency of the municipality of Brava, but for party-political reasons there is an attempt to drag the issue until the end of the mandate so that the presidency continues with the municipality of São Filipe.

"The association's presidency rotation process is blocked because there is no interest in holding the meeting and thus the municipality of São Filipe continues to lead the association that has been presiding since 2015", said Alberto Nunes, stressing that attempts have already been made to schedule meetings for several times, but without success.

According to him, the last meeting was held almost two years ago in the city of Cova Figueira, municipality of Santa Catarina do Fogo, the president of the association is not elected, because the statutes stipulate a rotation system, noting that when it is approved in 1999 established that each municipality exercised the presidency for one third of the mandate, but with the creation of the municipality of Santa Catarina do Fogo, each municipality started to have a one-year mandate, in the rotation system.

Alberto Nunes is unable to explain whether the rotation was defined in alphabetical order, but he indicated that at this moment it should be the island of Brava to assume it, followed by Mosteiros, Santa Catarina and finally São Filipe, adding that within the framework of the rotation system the mandate of São Filipe has already expired.

The mayor also recalled that at the Cova Figueira meeting and at another held before 2020, the continuity of the rotation system was approved, noting that the president has taken positions without consulting the association’s management even though he is aware that it is a collegiate body, which is why considers that “the office of president of the Association is being used for its own benefit by the mayor of São Filipe.

Another situation that was questioned by the mayor of Santa Catarina do Fogo is the functioning of the Regional Development Agency (ADR), pointing out as an example the acquisition of a vehicle without approval from the board of directors and authorization from the Intermunicipal Assembly of the Association of Municipalities of Fogo and from Brava.

Alberto Nunes defends holding an urgent meeting to analyze these situations, noting that “if there is a will it can even be done through a platform”.

He also questioned the profile of the AGD coordinator who, according to him, has been using social networks to systematically attack the Government as if he were a deputy or someone who held political office.

“The coordinator who attacks the Government every day demonstrates impartiality in management and, due to the fact that he performs the function that covers four municipalities with different party colors, his attitude should be exclusively technical and leave politics to municipal, national deputies or other political agents ”, advocated Alberto Nunes, who, in addition to condemning the use of his position to attack the Government, proposes that the next meeting discuss the profile of those responsible for this service.