Brava: Community of Lomba Tantum again calls for speed in repairing the cable car

Speaking to the press, the president of the Cooperative of Shipowners, Fishermen and Fishmongers (CoopUnipesca) of Lomba Tantum, Anildo Baptista, said today that the cable car has suffered constant breakdowns, and requires further intervention to resolve this problem once and for all. , which has been going on for many years.

“ We have already made several reports in the media about this situation, however, until now no one has commented on this and in the community this situation is quite worrying ”, he commented.

“ There was a time when the device was not working for three months, and as a representative of the fishing community, this raises a concern for me, taking into account that the community is already affected in this sense and the Government needs to resolve this situation" , he highlighted.

According to this official, the cable car is an infrastructure that was invested in 2015, by the previous Government and its initial capacity was 100 kilos, however, according to him, it currently cannot transport even 20 kilos of fish.

In this sense, he said that in order to be able to transport a fish weighing more than 20 kilos, it would be necessary to divide the merchandise so that the device could make two turns and thus be able to transport the load.

“ But if we have a lot of fish, it would take much longer before we can transport the entire load. Nine years have passed, when this cable car was installed, however, the steel cable was supposed to be changed two years later, but so far they have never made this change , except for some basic maintenance that is carried out by some resident mechanics. ”, he stated.

Anildo Baptista also guaranteed that the Ministry of the Sea showed “ great interest and impact ” in making this commitment, before the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment (MAA), with the aim of ensuring that there is an investment in requalification, mainly the change of the cable steel and some basic parts.

“ The community's interest is that this device is managed in the best possible way, in the eyes of fishermen and the entire community, as we have been showing our concern in meetings with the MAA delegate, but, however, we are not being reciprocated ”, he assured, stressing that if the device was managed by the local entity it would have more impact on fishermen and fishmongers and would be closer to the community.

The same source also said that, when this device is not working, it is a sacrifice for the fishmongers to go up with the fish on their heads. “ Traders have also been paying an exaggerated price to get their goods from the port to their homes ”, he highlighted.

For his part, fisherman José António Monteiro , who also shares the same opinion, reinforces the appeal of repairing the machine, taking into account that breakdowns are constant and also requests an improvised shade to better work on the cable car.

“ We had already spoken to the former MAA delegate, showing him our problems, but so far we have not received any response. When there is a more serious breakdown, they usually send mechanics, but most of the time I make the small adjustments myself ”, he concluded.