Brava: Scarcity of sand and other civil construction materials conditions works – contractors

The contractors from Brave highlighted today that the lack of sea sand and other civil construction materials has conditioned the works, reporting cases of dismissals of heads of families until the arrival of material.

Speaking to the press, Celestino Ramos, a contractor, highlighted that there are several constraints in the area of civil construction on Brava, starting with the lack of sea sand, which does not exist on the island and which has to be bought in Fogo, but which now you can't even get a can from the neighboring island.

According to this contractor, the works are conditioned because the sand from the existing mines on Brava is not suitable for finishing and this scarcity of sand on the market ends up making the works more expensive, because every time a material is missing when you manage to put it in back on the market the price is always higher.

Likewise, he argues that the issue of the boat schedule is not helping much either, because there is no fixed schedule and often without coordination.

As for the price that was being sold for sea sand, he said that a 15-liter can was being sold for between 350 and 380$00 and a “galucho” car full of sand cost 60 thousand escudos, but that at the moment it cannot be precise. a price because there are always changes in the time of restocking on the island.

In addition to the lack of sea sand, he also regrets the shortage of other building materials on the island, namely iron, cement, among others. And to make matters worse, the price that changes with each shipment that arrives at Brava

At the moment, he underlined that thanks to the emigrants, several works are emerging in the civil construction sector, but that the lack of material has conditioned not only the deadline for delivery, but also the budget.

Likewise, António Alves, another contractor, agrees with the same opinion, considering this situation "very complicated", since, in addition to the price, the shortage also greatly harms the sector, conditioning the work of contractors who are often forced to reduce the number of workers.

Idial Louro is another entrepreneur who says he has about five works stopped waiting for the arrival of sea sand to finish, as the market in terms of sea sand depends on the island of Fogo.

He also emphasized that the issue of transport has harmed the sector, as there is a lack of other materials and even if a contractor wants to buy them in Cidade da Praia, they have to wait about a month or more for them to arrive in Brava.

Faced with this situation, the mayor of Brava, Francisco Tavares, says he sympathizes with the contractors who are facing various difficulties in completing the works, with negative impacts on the economy of Brava.

According to the mayor, lately the situation has become even worse, after the ban on collecting sand on the beach of Fonte Bila, on Fogo Island, complicating the situation of life and livelihood of many people who did this sand business.

Meanwhile, he announced that there is an economic operator that is trying to set up a company to produce mechanical sands, but that this process involves many aspects, namely studies, environmental impact, licenses, and large financial resources.

Even so, he acknowledged that “it is something that is greatly needed”.

And to try to resolve the situation, for the moment, the mayor left an appeal so that when there is an opening in Fogo, mainly in São Filipe for the exploration of sea sand, that Brava is also seen as part of the Fogo and Brava region and that the slice of this cake of sand is also sold to Brava as it is sold to contractors on the island of Fogo.

With Inforpress