Deputy Clóvis Silva regrets the “extremely serious” situation the island is experiencing

Clóvis Silva stated that after the presentation of the latest social diagnosis of Brava Island, Cape Verde is awakened to data “ never seen before ” in this country.

“ An island that has long shown undeniable signs of regression at all levels, to the point that no sector analyzed has had even minimally positive results ,” he said.

He said that this diagnosis indicates that this island has been benefiting from “ significant developments ” in quality of life, namely in access to education, social support, sanitation and accessibility.

However, these improvements , as he pointed out, do not seem to have been “ sufficient ” to lead to the population growth dynamics seen in the archipelago, as this island has been consistently losing population, with the pyramid narrowing in the younger age groups.

In other words, he considered that the development proposed for the island of Brava has had nothing but “ negative results ” at a demographic level, losing its population at a rate of around 50 people per year.

“This is a clear rejection of public policies , both local and national, aimed at the island of Brava. And in the words of the document itself, which bears the symbol of the Municipality of Brava, young people appear to have few employment opportunities and the perception of participants is that the number of delinquent behaviours has increased, due to the lack of opportunities and activities aimed at young people ”, he explained.

The same source also added in this regard “ failure ” of policies for youth, economy, employment and professional training, across the board.

He recalled, on the other hand, that the president of the Brava City Council, Francisco Tavares, on the day of the municipality of this island , in an interview with inforpress , said that the gains are “indisputable, unavoidable and significant” in all areas ”.

He considered that this statement is a “huge mistake”, making it clear that the island is being governed without data, indicators and without goals, with a navigation by sight, without putting people as priorities.

He continued, stressing that it is proof of the “ disastrous ” result of a government that had 12 years to prove its competence .

“This is now faced with data that proves that the Brava City Council does not protect children, does not support women, does not provide alternatives for young people, as access to sport is scarce, the number of cultural activities is small, there is no support for civil society, with Brava associations having disappeared into the sea of bitterness ”, he lamented.

At an economic level , Clovis Silva also added that the evidence of his local government incompetence is “crystal clear”, and that the social diagnosis itself has already pointed out, referring that the Gross Domestic Product per capita of the island, in 2017 was 227,817 escudos, the second lowest in the archipelago and almost 100,000 escudos below the national average, according to this study.

In terms of education, he stated that school dropout rates are “significant”, at 20% in primary education and around 33% in secondary education, and 50% in the age group between 15 and 19 years old, and that this shows a setback of more than 20 years.

With the results confirmed by the Brava City Council, which not only accepted them but also put its name on them, this national deputy stressed that the entire council team should, without exception, resign immediately and not stand in the next elections to renew their mandate, due to absolute “incompetence”.

Finally, he lamented once again that this island is getting poorer every year and that the only solution has been emigration, seen by all those who leave as the only hope for a better future.

It should be noted that this broad diagnosis, conducted by a technical entity, had the participation of 26 entities, including professional classes, associations, schools, plus 52 individuals and 32 social partners.

One of the essential objectives, according to this politician, was to outline the situation of Brava Island, through a community diagnosis resulting from an international partnership between the Municipalities of Oeiras and Brava, analysing the sectors of Education, Health, Social Action, Households, Sports and Transport.

Inforpress