Portuguese President Cavaco Silva has criticised the “greedy” salaries and bonuses of big company executives at a time of economic crisis.
The President was speaking in his annual April 25 address to the Portuguese Parliament on the day which commemorates the bloodless revolution against dictatorship in 1974.
The President launched a stinging attack against fat cat salaries and bonuses at a time when many Portuguese families were going through immense economic difficulties.
“The feeling of injustice is that much greater when every day we hear about cases of undeserved wealth,” he said in an allusion to the President of EDP António Mexia’s multi-million salary and bonuses.
He also suggested that the country should invest more time, energy and money in maritime markets. “We cannot waste time because competition from outside will be relentless,” he said. He, therefore, advised the government to define the sea as an “urgent priority for national policy” and said there was “no excuse for Portugal not to be exploring and exploiting the sea in every conceivable way” since it generated “70 per cent of the world’s wealth”.
Portugal is currently negotiating with the United Nations and other entities to increase her maritime area between Portugal and her islands, particularly around the Azores, the so-called Maritime Economic Zone.
The Portuguese Navy is also arguing that it needs an effective maritime fleet, including two submarines, to protect, patrol and analyse potential maritime markets in terms of fishing, marine energy sources, undersea exploration, ship building and bio-technology.
