Brava: Lack of water puts the people of Brava in “desperation” who are forced to look for other more costly solutions

For some months now, anyone who has tanks on top of their house and who wants a drop of water will only be left with the desire, as there are few areas and lucky residents who manage to get the precious liquid to reach the tanks.

In addition to the water available being in small quantities, as the water flow has been decreasing year after year, mainly with the scarcity of rains, the time that lasts in the network is very little, with 30 minutes of water available in the network having been accounted for several times. network in some locations and residents manage to fill no less than 15 bottles with a capacity of 5 liters each, so weak is the network that even those trying to use a motor pump to pump water to the terrace are unable to it doesn't come strong enough.

Inforpress went to the streets of Nova Sintra and talked to some residents, some wanted to make this situation public, others simply regretted it and said that there is no point in complaining because nothing will be resolved, taking into account that this problem has always been one of the heels of Island Achilles.

Cátia Barros is a resident of Vila de Nova Sintra and owner of a restaurant, who says she has gone through difficult times, and every day only sees the situation getting worse.

According to the same source, water is available twice a week, but on each of these days you can only get half a drum of water, corresponding to three 20-litre cans.

"The water doesn't have the strength to reach the tank, even with the solution in the drum they can't get a reasonable amount of water", highlighted this owner, stressing that weekly she has to buy a ton of water that costs 2500 escudos and the answer is not always immediately due to so much demand for this particular.

In this same fight we find Luís Mendes, a renowned farmer on the island who says that there were times when he had more than five thousand banana trees in his garden, but today there are not even two thousand, in addition to the other plants that he has seen suffer from lack of water.

According to this farmer, the situation is “more serious” every day and the tendency is to get worse.

He said that in the locality where he lives, in addition to water being available most of the time at night, they often do not get the precious liquid, not even for consumption, let alone to water a plant.

And as he still has some vegetables in his garden, when asked how he has been maintaining this space, he said he didn't even have the courage to say what type of water he had been using, but that he had been trying to circumvent the situation in different ways, because that is what his and the sustenance of the family.

In this regard, he blames the Government for not having sought solutions in a timely manner and for not having streamlined the works on the desalination plant, stressing that the country's problem is that "they leave everything for the time of the election campaigns" and forget that the people are the ones who suffer all the suffering. time before this period.

What angered him the most, as he pointed out, is the national deputy for the MpD circle, from Brava, Fernanda Burgo, having said in parliament that “Brava is not isolated”, so he questioned whether there is more isolation than suffering from lack of water and have no practical solutions.

In fact, he said that in Brava there are places with water that could be used in the best way, such as Ferreiros and Sorno, again accusing the Government of “poor management” and the Intermunicipal Water Company of Fogo and Brava (Águabrava) of “not do nothing on the island”.

Manuel Cecílio is another inhabitant of Nova Sintra who used few words to describe the situation on the island, considering it “precarious”, because, according to him, there is no need to say anything more since it is known by all.

Another resident who says he is suffering a lot from this situation is John Fernandes, a former emigrant who has a garden in his residence and around it, which was previously much visited by locals and visitors, but which today is practically degraded and dry. , thus losing all its luster.

Despite the garden, this resident said that he brought several plants and seeds of fruit trees from other countries, such as cocoa seeds, coconut trees, among others that in Brava it was only possible to find in his space, but today, when looking at his backyard, he feels “heartache and pain” for not being able to and not having any solution to save their plants.

In addition, what is most outrageous is that, despite Brava not having water, Águabrava sends it “exaggerated” bills, since, according to the same, it is visible that in Brava no resident or user has water available to be able to spend at this time 24 to 30 tons of water, which he considered to be “absurd”.

“The issue is not even paying, but rather not enjoying a product, seeing the plants suffer and then being confronted with such a large bill”, he revealed, stressing that solving the water problem in Brava is crucial, but also asks a responsible company manager by this sector that understands the subject.

Regarding this situation, Rui Évora, administrator/delegate of Empresa Intermunicipal de Águas (Águabrava), advanced in an interview to Inforpress that the contract for the execution of the seawater desalination station in Brava has already started since April 17, with a deadline of execution of 14 months, which means that the project can be concluded at the end of June 2024.

The contract is carried out by a French consortium, with the consent of three companies, and the project foresees installing a production capacity of around 1100 cubic meters per day, designed to work powered by solar energy and conventional energy, considering that with the completion of this project for Brava it is possible to definitively overcome the precarious situation of water supply on the island.

The precarious situation of the water supply in Brava is already known to everyone and even the mayor of Brava, in almost all his speeches, reveals that the solution to this structuring problem is the construction of a desalination plant.