Africa-Press – Cape verde. Dozens of minors of both sexes were prevented from entering Praça do Presídio at night, even if accompanied by parents or guardians.
The Cape Verdean Institute for Children and Adolescents (ICCA) in partnership with Aldeia SOS, the National Police and members of the Municipal Committee for the Defense of the Rights of Children and Adolescents set up a scheme to control the entry of minors into nightlife venues.
The delegate of the Cape Verdean Institute for Children and Adolescents (ICCA), Samira Teixeira, who leads the process of controlling the entry of minors, said that on Sunday night several dozen minors were stopped at the entrance to the Prison.
The inspection team, properly marked and wearing a lettuce green reflective vest, gathered near the entrance door and all people suspected of being minors were approached by the inspection members who asked for their identification document.
If the person is a minor, they are removed from the line and prevented from entering by National Police agents, said Samira Teixeira, who highlighted that they have already faced cases of document falsification.
But, he continued, when he takes possession of the document and asks the person to say their name and date of birth, the information provided does not match that on the document and they are prevented from entering.
According to the ICCA delegate, “the saddest thing” are the situations of minors who are taken to these spaces by their own parents or guardians who insist that they can enter, since they are accompanied.
During a conversation with the inspection team, Inforpress witnessed a mother, from the interior of the island, who insisted with the team to let her youngest daughter enter the Prison.
The argument was that he was from the countryside and that there was no means of transport to return to his location at that time, 1:00 in the morning, and that leaving his youngest daughter outside the Prison would be worse, a request that was promptly refused by the ICCA delegate.
Entry control into nightlife venues began on April 25 and, at The View venue, nearly one hundred minors were removed from the venue by the inspection team with the support of PN agents.
On Saturday, during the white night, dozens of minors were prevented from entering the Prison.
Despite the entry control, posters are posted in all the stalls set up inside and outside the Prison indicating the prohibition of selling or offering alcoholic beverages to minors.
The Secretary of Culture, Lia Barbosa, said that the team controlling the entry of minors into these spaces “is commendable” and highlighted that the emergence of the alternative stage was designed for people who cannot enter the Prison, especially minors.
Lia Barbosa said that the problem is that it is the parents themselves who take their younger children to these spaces.
When asked about the sale of alcoholic beverages in Alto São Pedro, where the alternative stage operates, and whether this does not constitute a paradox, Lia Barbosa said that the stand set up in Alto São Pedro was for selling soft drinks.
However, he said, as alcoholic beverages are still being sold today, a barrier will be created to prevent access by minors, similar to what was done last year with the beauty pageant.
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