Owners of homes that have been designated as illegal dwellings on Praia de Faro have been notified to leave them before they are knocked down, or be charged for the demolition.
Letters have been sent to the 120 homes that have been deemed illegal. Polis Litoral Ria Formosa have informed the fishermen that they have until November 28th to clear their belongings and leave.
The company Polis Litoral Ria Formosa formally is to take administrative ownership of the properties and then is to open a tendering process for the demolition which must take place before the end of next year.
The homes come under the remit of the Polis Litoral Programme (2008) which aims ‘to create an integrated and coordinated policy for coastal areas, to rehabilitate and reclaim risk areas and degraded natural areas along the coast’ while evicting fishermen without any provision for their future accommodation.
The company’s position is that if the owners do not clear the properties within the prescribed time they may be charged for the cost of demolition, plus any other fines, levies and penalties the state can drum up to make the whole process even more degrading.
The official day and time that locals are relived of the responsibility of home ownership is between 10.00 hrs and 17.00pm on December 2, 2014. The press will be in attendance.
It was widely expected that some sense would prevail and that fishermen who had nowhere else to live would not be evicted nor their homes demolished. This is not to be the case as many permanent residents with nowhere else to go also have received eviction notices.
The fishermen have 15 days within which to lodge a complaint.
The government's rather weak reason for the removal of these homes is to avoid the need to rescue people and property in the event of storms, “We do not want scenes of destruction by the sea, as witnessed in Fuseta some years ago, repeated elsewhere, there are people and assets to be protected in places where there should not be people or assets," said environment minister, Jorge Moreira da Silva in June this year.
Faro’s mayor commented then that "nobody wins anything if these properties are demolished, there are no risk factors."
The Praia de Faro evictions are just the start of this clearance project that is planned to finish at the end of 2015 at a cost of €16.6 million.
The target is to remove 808 homes located on Praia de Faro, Hangares, Farol and its islets but Faro council wants to see houses saved and does not see a problem with those fishermen who live there staying put.
One reason is that Faro council will have to find accomodation for many of those evicted so it is encumbent on the council to support any legal moves that keeps the houses and fishemen in situ for as long as possible.
See also: http://www.algarvedailynews.com/news/2648-faro-council-opposes-destruction-of-island-homes
