Africa-Press – Cape verde. The candidate of the Independent and Democratic Union of Cape Verde (UCID) for mayor of São Vicente said on Saturday, in Mindelo, that he intends to make the island a beacon of Cape Verde if he wins the local elections on December 1st.
António Monteiro expressed this desire when speaking at the public presentation of the UCID lists for the local elections in São Vicente.
According to the candidate, who is running for the leadership of the São Vicente city council for the sixth time, he entered this fight because he believes that his abilities, his way of being and acting in life and politics, and his knowledge are strong and good enough to give the island a better hope for tomorrow.
The candidate recalled that during Onésimo Silveira’s term in office, several twinnings were achieved for the municipality of São Vicente, but he criticised that for the past 16 years the São Vicente city council has been governed “by a citizen with militaristic symptoms who manages the city council as if it were his own”.
According to the same source, the current president does not claim the rights of São Vicente, but if the list he leads is elected he will demand more from the Government, putting the numbers on the table so that the island can enjoy what it is entitled to.
“According to data from the National Statistics Institute (INE), São Vicente has a turnover of 120 million contos and has around three thousand companies. How is it possible that the island contributes 120 million contos and receives only 361 thousand contos per year”, he questioned, considering that São Vicente cannot contribute 34 percent and receive less than one percent in return from that same wealth.
For António Monteiro, the São Vicente council currently “has dubious connections that put the future of the island at risk”. But he argued that his candidacy wants a well-managed council, in terms of land, social housing, sports, sanitation and, above all, in the care of those who are most vulnerable, giving “doubled and special” attention to social issues. He also said that he intends to go abroad to form twinning partnerships, establish international cooperation and attract investors to create wealth and jobs on the island, and also work together with whichever party is in government to make the island flourish. António Monteiro said that he also wants to invest in culture and bring social centres for young people to all neighbourhoods of São Vicente, with the possibility of installing physical and virtual libraries, make 10% of the municipal budget available for sports and youth and install prefabricated houses to replace the drum houses that proliferate on the island. “São Vicente has 25 thousand houses, two thousand of which are drum houses. Two thousand drum houses. We want to reduce the number of drum houses in São Vicente by 50% over the four-year term. We will buy prefabricated houses that cost around 500 contos in China to replace the drum houses and also legalise land so that people can build”, predicted the candidate who also wants to “put an end to corruption in the São Vicente council by creating a geographic information system to manage land”.
In turn, the UCID’s candidate for the municipal assembly, Zilda Oliveira, said that the party has taken on these elections as a fight for the quality of life of the people of São Vicente.
“We are fighting for human progress. São Vicente and the people of São Vicente are crying out for progress and progress is impossible without change. And that is the UCID’s proposal for these local elections on 1 December, the change of the council and the municipal assembly”, requested the same source, for whom “the progress of the island of São Vicente will be translated and reflected in the improvement of the quality of life of all the children of that island”.
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