Brava: Community of Lomba Tantum asks for speed in repairing the local cable car

The population of Lomba Tantum, mostly fishermen and fishmongers, is asking for urgent repairs to the cable car in this town on Brava Island, as its breakdown has jeopardized the work of many people.

Speaking to Inforpress, fisherman João Monteiro da Lomba said that in the locality people depend mostly on fishing and the cable car has been suffering several interruptions due to malfunctions, which has caused several inconveniences to fishermen and fishmongers.

According to this fisherman, not long ago the cable car was out of service for three months, it was repaired and in a short period of time it stopped working and when that happens there are several constraints.

Because, as he pointed out, when the cable car is operational, the fishermen are able to send the fish they obtained from the work at a low price from the bottom of Tantum to Lomba, but when it does not work, for each tub of fish that the younger boys carry on their heads fund from Tantum to the community of Lomba charge 700 escudos, which makes the product more expensive.

Likewise, David Garcia, a young man who decided to embark on the path of entrepreneurship through the sale of fish, stressed that the inactivity of the cable car has hurt him a lot and why he has not been able to sell the fish for three weeks.

Because with the cable car damaged when the fishermen go to sea, if they get a reasonable amount of fish, instead of disembarking in the port of Tantum, they prefer to go to the port of Fajã d´Água and thus no longer get fish to win, because if you order fish to land in Tantum is required to pay 700 escudos for each tub of fish carried to Lomba and thus there will be no profit.

But, according to this young man, the question is no longer limited to repairing the part, but general maintenance and even changing the steel cable.

“It has already been in operation for several years, so it needs general maintenance, including the replacement of the steel cable in order to maintain its usefulness and safety for the target audience”, highlighted the same source.

Reinaldo Meireles, a longtime fisherman, also added his voice to the younger ones, highlighting the importance of the cable car in the life of this community and how its inactivity influences the price of fish.

This fisherman advanced that he always defended the need to have spare parts so that, as soon as there is a breakdown, they can replace them, so as not to condition the work and livelihood of this community for several times.

He also defended maintenance even if it is monthly or quarterly, in order to guarantee better safety for users, reinforcing that what is charged for fish is already a step towards working and guaranteeing this maintenance.