By: CECÍLIA PIRES
ISILDA GOMES only took office as Faro Civil Governor at the beginning of June but she has already identified some of the main areas that need her immediate attention.
The new representative of the Portuguese government in the Algarve told The Resident that she hopes the social problems may be solved by better planning of the investments that are coming to the region.
The English community, she says, can also play an important and active role in this development of the Algarve. “I believe the English community is completely integrated in the Algarve, although I think there is still room for improvement.”
Welcome
The Algarve has, she says, been able to accommodate and welcome all visitors, not just tourists, in particular immigrants from all over Europe.
“We must remember that the English community was the first to come to the Algarve. They first found the touristic potential of some of our beautiful coast and river villages. They started the building process in many regions and first brought human presence to the wildest areas of the Algarve,” she said.
For the immediate future, Isilda Gomes is very optimistic about speedy implementation of projects like the Metro Ligeiro, a surface train, to connect the east and the west coast.
“This project is still at a very early stage, with the first studies being made, but it will be vital for the development of transport in the region.”
Also high on the list of priorities for the new Civil Governor is an east-west cycle way, which would create “a green road for those who enjoy a close contact with nature.”
However, the projects closest to Isilda Gomes’ heart are the motor racing track and the new airports planned for the Portimão-Lagos area and in Loulé.
“This race track will bring luxury tourism to the Algarve and it is important to have an airport nearby for those who travel with their own jets.”
The golf resorts already being built and planned in the eastern Algarve complement these, she said, and the environmental impact is not a concern for the Government.
“We now know exactly where the sensitive areas are. No golf or touristic project will be built outside areas defined by legislation for the Algarve”, she said.
Isilda Gomes also said that the water supply, a concern for many who live in and work in the Algarve and highlighted after the crisis of the 2005 summer, is finding a response through the Odelouca Dam project.
Her environmental concerns are not limited to water supplies. She also wants new projects on renewable energies coming and growing in the region. “Scientists are saying the world oil reserves will run out long before the end of the century,” says Gomes. “I know that there are new projects being developed in the north of Portugal involving wave energy. We don’t have strong waves in the Algarve, but we have excellent sun conditions most of the year, so that’s where we must invest. “People must start to take a more long term perspective.”
Isilda Gomes, whose historical heroes are Winston Churchill and Mário Soares, a former Portuguese president, has lived in the Algarve for the last 25 years, and she considers the region to be “magical”.
Future
Born in Almeida, a city in the north of Portugal, she has raised her two sons in the Algarve, where they now also live and work.
She is a great fan of Michael Bolton and Andrea Bocelli. Her most recent book was Equador, the first romance of Miguel Sousa Tavares, a Portuguese journalist and writer. Whenever she has the time, “which is rare”, she can be found walking along the beach.
For the future of the Algarve, the Faro Civil Governor, who sees herself as a very honest and forthright person, would like the immediate reorganization of the administrative regions of the country.
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