Acceptance Speech Orlando Balla Candidate for CMB Municipalities September 4

Nova Sintra, 19th of August - We publish here the MPD Candidate Orlando da Luz Vieira Balla's candidacy acceptance speech for the candidacy of Brava City Council, to the next municipal councils on 4th September 2016.

ACCEPTANCE SPEECH

Dear Municipalities,
Dear Bravenses,
Your Excellency Mr. MpD President, Dr. Ulisses Correia e Silva,

Allow me, first of all, to say a big thank you:
To the MpD-Brava regional political commission;
To the national political commission of the MpD;

And to all those who, in a way, have supported me, encouraged me in this re-candidacy and will certainly support me after September 4th.

Once again, Thank you very much for the honor, privilege and trust placed in me.

After 4 years of hard work, dedication, commitment and the gains achieved for our island, I ACCEPT, once again, with humility and LOVE, this challenge of RECANDIDATING for the leadership of driving the destinations of our DJABRABA.

I ACCEPT aware of my responsibilities, the difficulties we face and overcome and the many achievements that have ALREADY been achieved.

I ACCEPTED aware of the need to consolidate the political options for development and municipal management adopted since August 2012 and aware of the new CONJUNCTURE of HOPE that the country has experienced since March 20th with this NEW GOVERNMENT of the MpD, a friend and PRO POWER LOCAL that will offer us with the DESIRED POSITIVE DISCRIMINATION to speed up our DEVELOPMENT PROCESS.

I ACCEPT IT because TOGETHER WE WILL BE STRONGER, WE WILL DO MUCH MORE AND BETTER – TOGETHER BRAVA WILL GAIN MUCH MORE.

This candidacy is also the result of a great appeal from the Bravenses of all localities and the diaspora who positively evaluated our performance in these last 4 years. Deep down it translates the desire that “ it is necessary to maintain this course, this vision and these policies of doing and wanting much more and better ” – that is why the main objective of this candidacy is to continue to: “ value the Bravenses and develop Brava ”.

Of course, in order to carry out the necessary projects and to achieve the development of Brava, we must win the next municipal elections.

Dear Citizens and Friends of Brava... united, participating and cooperating with this candidacy that I have the honor of leading: We will win these elections .

My Ladies and Gentlemen:
From our vision for the development of Brava, presented to the electorate of Brava in 2012, in these last challenging and difficult 4 years, much has been achieved... many other projects remained in the many ministries of the previous Government.

My desire to continue to serve my island, above all my deep love for Brava, and an immense respect and consideration for all Bravense, was reinforced in this term.
As Mayor of Brava, I was the first defender of the interests of the Bravens and of Brava, always and in all circumstances putting " Djabraba di Nós " in First Place . This new mandate will be no different.

The list that I honorably lead, and is presented to you, is a mixture of experience, youth, ambition and dedication to the development process, aiming to raise Brava to the level of the most advanced islands in Cape Verde and promote it as a reference tourist destination. and quality on the international eco-tourism stage.

We have been working for a long time to define the path to follow for the sustainable development of our municipality ... that is why in 2013 we promoted the FORUM DE DESENVOLVIMENTO DA BRAVA, which pointed out to us as a development strategy the promotion of NATURE TOURISM and all the other related activities.

We have a lot of work ahead of us... But the evidence given in the last 4 years and the NEW GOVERNMENT OF CAPE VERDE led by Dr. ULISSES CORREIA E SILVA, fills us with HOPE and reinforces our conviction that we will continue to POSITIVELY transform our ISLAND and we will provide a BETTER FUTURE for our citizens.

Dear Bravenses... I could not fail to make a brief summary of what was the mandate that is now ending, citing the obstacles overcome and the marks left by the team that I had the privilege of presiding over:

1. The OPERATING DEFICITs were eliminated and we NEVER resorted to bank loans to balance the municipal treasury, as had been the habit in the last years of the 2008-2012 mandate;

2. After 23 years of Municipalism in Cape Verde, we approve the HERALDIC SYMBOLS OF BRAVA;

3. Rigorous and transparent management of local finances allowed us, in addition to increasing the credibility of the City Council with the main partners, to take out a bank loan for INVESTMENT in SIGNIFICANT and NECESSARY infrastructures: I mean the MUNICIPAL SHOPPING CENTER, REHABILITATION FROM EUGÉNIO TAVARES SQUARE AND “SODADI” ESPLANADE ... Infrastructures that used to embarrass us all, abandoned and in degradation, now a reason for PRIDE and job creation;

4. A PUBLIC-PRIVATE partnership allowed for deep requalification and renovation work at the POUSADA MUNICIPAL and the reopening of a new hotel unit..., to our pride and the creation of new jobs;

5. The emblematic Colonial building - Slaughterhouse was rehabilitated and baptized as MUNICIPAL SLAUGHTERHOUSE “NHÔ BONGA”;

6. LAYOUTS were made in Tomé-Barraz, in Minhoto, in Ponta-Baixo, in Acesso à Avenida, in Achada Candinha, in Laranjeira and in the access to Estrada de Matinho;

7. We corrected a major anomaly and widened part of the access road “Caminho Nobo” to Cova Rodela;

8. We rehabilitated the multipurpose facility in Furna, built the Whale Sports Sign and are in the process of rehabilitating and upgrading the multipurpose facility in Nossa Senhora do Monte;

9. We built Praça São João Baptista;

10. We built a decent and safe access to “Cabo di Péle” in Furna;

11. The Sanitation and Cleaning System in our locations has been significantly improved;

12. The Municipal Roads underwent periodic cleaning and maintenance interventions;

13. Our side roads are already seeing better days with deep cleaning thanks to the New Government of Cape Verde;

14. The Kindergartens: Nhô Djeca, Furna, Mato, Lém and Cachaço were improved and new furniture will be installed in all the others at the beginning of the next school year;

15. We managed to increase the number of Bravense Students benefiting from subsidy for technical, professional and higher education; I am talking about an investment of more than 6 thousand escudos per year in this area when we join protocols with higher education institutions; Protocols are now starting that will allow young Bravenses to enter the Polytechnic Institutes of Bragança and Leiria;

16. In Sports, subsidy to Clubs and the Regional Football Association was increased by around 30% and Athletics and Cycling were promoted with results known by all;

17. In Culture: work began on transforming the Municipal Emergency Center into a true Auditorium – work that will be completed within a year thanks to ongoing partnerships; An Art and Music school continues to be a dream to achieve despite the steps already taken together with the association 7 soles 7 luas; We held 4 editions of the 7 soles 7 luas International Festival with gains in training local artists and promoting local groups; Artisans, singers and players, conditions were created to participate and promote their activities in other municipalities in the country; we created an exhibition and sale center for lace and embroidery in Nova Sintra;

18. In social action, we rehabilitated around 50 houses with the replacement or placement of reinforced concrete, construction of bathrooms and other interventions;

19. We have already connected water to more than 60 houses and another 30 houses are in progress as part of a project to connect all the houses on Brava that still do not have this basic asset;

20. There is an ongoing project to build 6 new viewpoints as part of the project to enhance the tourist value of our natural landscapes;

21. A course for tour guides will start shortly;

Dear Gifts,

Much more could be said about the exercise of our mandate in which the CENTRAL GOVERNMENT reduced funding via the Program-Contract by around 21 thousand escudos per year and reduced the IUP rate by 50% without increasing the Municipal Financing Fund, without the municipal revenues from the Ecological Tax being transferred as required by law and in view of the need to increase operating expenses with the Implementation of the new PCCS and the Minimum Salary.

We are, dear brave people, facing a mandate in which our City Hall team was obliged to work with a reduction in Government funds in the order of 95 thousand contos compared to the 2008-2012 mandate.

Still, to aggravate the situation initially encountered, the CMB operated, until 2012, with a significant operating deficit in the order of Thousand Contos, paying the bank around 715 Contos per month in amortization of loans without return and a high debt to suppliers and local merchants.

We were able to overcome all these obstacles thanks to hard work, rigorous management, excellence and also, counting on many partners, of which I highlight the City Council of Sal, Maio, Boavista, Sintra - Portugal and the City Council of Praia , at that time, presided over by Dr. Ulisses Correia e Silva, President of the MpD and, now, PRIME MINISTER OF CAPE VERDE;

Dear Bravenses

Allow me to mention some of the areas that will deserve our attention in the next mandate that will start with our re-election on the 4th of September, with the support of all of you:

1. Beautification of Brava (Cleaning and Sanitation)

• We will continue to improve the entire garbage collection and treatment system;
• We will implement a municipal environmental education program focusing on its benefits;
• In cooperation with the MDR and the population in general, we will implement a sustainable system of production and planting of flower trees in public spaces and around houses (we are the island of flowers after all);
• We will continue to carry out the program that will ensure that every house on the Island will have at least one water tap, one electric light and toilets;
• 2. Health:
• We will continue to insist with the competent authorities to improve the conditions for providing health care in terms of equipment, promoting the training of technicians, health education, the implementation of Basic Health Units in all locations, the functioning of the ambulance service integrated into the civil protection body – The Municipal Ambulance has already been donated to CMB by the Brockton Council and will arrive in CV in the coming months;
• We will insist on the creation of logistical conditions for the reception of patients evacuated to the regional hospital in Fogo;
• We will encourage, promote and implement a system of periodic visits by specialist doctors;
• We will continue to support patients without financial resources, who have been issued a medical prescription to obtain the necessary medication and in case of evacuations;
• 3. Transport:
• We will do everything, in cooperation with our government, to make the existence of a functional airport on Brava a reality in the shortest possible time, and also to solidify the maritime transport system;
• We will also work with our government and other entities to continue the modernization of other roadways;

4. Education:

• We will continue our policy of awarding training grants to students based on transparency, degree of need and merit;
• We will look for partnerships to promote vocational courses in the areas of carpentry, mechanics, masonry, cooking, locksmithing and in various tourist areas;
• We will support students who attend the after-work course.
• We will continue the policy of creating even better working conditions for pre-schools;

5. Security:

• We will work in close cooperation with the PN to create a system, effective and quick to respond to emergency requests and to discourage illicit practices, especially thefts and assaults.
• We will seek to create physical and negotiation conditions with the National Police for the placement of police personnel in Nª Sª do Monte;
• We will effectively organize a civil protection service with the creation of a volunteer fire department;

6. Tourism:

• We will create the necessary conditions for Brava to become a tourist destination of choice;

To do so, we will bet:

ü training in the areas of tourism, catering and hospitality;

ü encouraging the creation of hotel units and restaurants;

ü in the restoration and maintenance of side paths and viewpoints;

ü promoting the museum and defining the route to the Eugénio Tavares house in Aguada;

ü in the implementation of rural tourism;

ü in defining the itinerary and tourist map.

7. Culture:

• The " house of culture " will become a reality and will constitute a symbol of the island, integrating a school of music, theater, dance and crafts (sewing, lace and embroidery);
• We will continue to work for the preservation and enhancement of all our cultural heritage, namely, morna, violin, poetry, serenade, “culinha”, June festivities, traditional end of year festivities and kings;
• We will continue to be a partner in promoting festivities organized by civil society organizations in their localities;

8. Youth:

• We will continue to create professional training opportunities geared towards the needs of the labor market on the island;
• We will give full support to entrepreneurship (support for the creation and development of business activities);
• We will continue to encourage youth housing in the licensing and allocation of lots;
• We implemented a Telecentre in Nª Sª do Monte in partnership with CVMultimédia, which has already offered to finance a new one in another location.

9. Sport:

• We will implement a Municipal program to promote sport that includes:
  the training of sports agents and managers;
• We will support sports initiation schools in different areas (football, basketball, handball, etc);
• We will hold inter-zone sports competitions;
• We will continue to look for partnerships, together with the local parish, for the requalification of the football field " Nho Padre ", dignifying it as heritage and transforming it into a football initiation center, with synthetic grass, benches and changing rooms and a court for basketball, tennis and volleyball;
• We will complete the rehabilitation of the Furna and Nª Sª do Monte multipurpose facilities, preparing them for sporting and social aspects;
• We will insist on finding funding for the construction of a grass football field in the parish of Nª Sª do Monte;
• We will build a sports plaque in Palhal (for students and young people from Lomba Tantum, Palhal and Ferreiros);
• We will complete the Mato and Cachaço Sports Signs, equipping them with fencing, changing rooms and lighting;

10. Water:

• We will monitor the completion of the project to remove excess fluoride from Água de Encontro and will continue to alert the competent authorities that the amount of water produced on the island is already INSUFFICIENT to supply the population, for agriculture, to supply hotel units and it is a project to mobilize more water is urgently needed.

11. Agriculture, Livestock and Fishing:

• The CMB will be a first-line partner, together with the MDR, to implement government policies in these sectors;
• We will continue to provide occasional support through projects and recognition of needs aimed at the family self-sustenance of farmers, livestock breeders and fishermen.

14. Social Action:

• This will be an area where our policies will be greatly improved in this new mandate;
• We will continue to seek funding for the creation of a day center for the elderly in Nª Sª do Monte;
• We will reinforce the implementation of the recovery, rehabilitation and construction program for social housing;
• We will create a medical support program with medication for the most needy;
• We will have to create the conditions to provide our elderly loved ones with a more dignified old age;
• 15. Emigration:
• We will continue creating the conditions for the effective participation of emigrants in the development process of our Island, providing incentives for the recovery of housing and promoting their definitive return after retirement;
• We will continue to keep our emigrants informed of the day-to-day life of the municipality, of the projects to be implemented and we will remain open to receiving contributions from their parties for the development of the island.

16. Infrastructure

• We will continue carrying out projects to recover the side roads;
• We will build a dignified and inspiring square in Nª Sª do Monte;
• We will continue to seek financing for the completion of the Pedra Molar, Campo Baixo, Risco Vermelho and Lomba - Escovinha roads;
• We will carry out a recovery program for degraded houses with the involvement of the owners;
• We will build a sports board and a playground for the towns of Palhal, Lomba and Ferreiros;
  We will carry out a recovery program for the oldest roads in the localities;
• We will mobilize and carry out projects to promote Nª Sª do Monte to meet all the requirements of a TOWN;
• We will build streets in Achadinha (in Furna), in Esparadinha, in Cachaço and in Lomba.
• We will build 2 pedestrian streets: one in Nova Sintra and another in Furna;
• Dear Municipalities Bravenses

BRAVA has never been faced with an opportunity to achieve such large and significant gains. We now have a GOVERNMENT that is friendly with the City Councils, a PRIME MINISTER who has worked for 8 years with a GOVERNMENT that is not very cooperative, we have a Governmental cast made up of people with great sensitivity and deep knowledge of the real NEEDS of the island,… We are ONE STEP FROM ONE MARRIAGE WITH EVERYTHING TO WORK OUT FOR THE GOOD OF OUR BELOVED DJABRABA... Dear brave people, ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS BET AGAIN ON THE MPD FOR THE CHAMBER to discover a NEW ERA OF DEVELOPMENT, never seen before.

Dear Bravenses,

I will end by thanking you for your honorable presence, for the privilege, for your trust and also for your support, which will be essential in our campaign and in our mandate after VICTORY in the municipal elections that are coming.

On the way to the victory:
Long live Bravense youth
Long live the women of Brava
Long live our emigrants
Long live MPD
Long live Brava...

God Bless Us All

New Sintra, August 2016

Orlando da Luz Vieira Balla

________________________________

- Candidate for Mayor of Brava -

Correspondent : João Paulo Gomes Rocha da Silva ( jpdibrava@sapo.cv )