Completion of Detráz os Mosteiros development increases public supply of affordable housing with 52 new apartments - Communication

Secretaria Regional da Juventude, Habitação e Emprego

The consignment agreement has been signed and the foundation stone laid for the construction of 52 apartments in the Detráz os Mosteiros housing development in the municipality of Ribeira Grande, São Miguel Island.

The ceremony took place on Tuesday at the Daniel de Sá Municipal Library. It was chaired by the Regional Secretary for Youth, Housing and Employment, Maria João Carreiro, and attended by the Vice-President of the Regional Government, Artur Lima.

As Maria João Carreiro explained, the works contract was awarded to the company Marques, SA, for 6.2 million Euros, fully financed under the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP), with a completion period of 420 days.

“The beginning of this project is a historic moment for the parish of Matriz, the municipality of Ribeira Grande and the island of São Miguel. The project and the people of Ribeira Grande have been waiting for its completion since 2008. That is a long time!” he said.

The project includes the construction of apartments on all of plots 1 and 2 of the development, including three one-bedroom apartments, 31 two-bedroom apartments and 18 three-bedroom apartments. These apartments will be put on the market as affordable rentals for young people and middle-class families in the municipality and on the island.

The Regional Secretary recalled that it was only possible to move forward with this project because the PSD/CDS/PPM coalition Government decided to purchase this development from IHRU in a single instalment, unlike the decision of the socialist government in 2020, which decided to purchase the development from IHRU in eight annual instalments.

“Faced with these two options, we became aware that the socialist government's intention was not to move forward with the project but rather to prolong its acquisition over time. This meant that even today we were paying unnecessary instalments and incurring financial costs that prevented us from completing the project," she said.

Maria João Carreiro recalled that this project, like others, had to be registered to the benefit of the region, which is a clear indication of the work that had yet to be done, despite the public announcements made by previous socialist governments.

“Not only have we fulfilled our commitments but we have also fulfilled the promises of others, who now demand everything and did little or nothing when they had the responsibility to do so,” she said.