Olhão council claims it knows nothing of the origin of the markings painted onto houses on the Ria Formosa island of Armona, nor of the notes delivered saying ‘this property is to be demolished.’
Several houses were marked as if they were on the Polis list for future demolition and letters were hand delivered, allegedly from Olhão council.
The council has pledged to use legal means to find out who was behind what appears to be a cruel hoax.
The gist of the official-looking letters was that the municipality had identified buildings that were illegally built on public land and that Polis will be coming to demolish the property.
The mayor of Olhão, António Pina, explained that the council "has nothing to do with this situation" and assured that he will pass the information to the police who will investigate.
Armona is not threatened by demolition as the island properties come under the Olhão council area and were registered years ago, unlike those in Farol, Faro, Hangares and Culatra which come unde Faro council and are under differing levels of threat by the government owned agency with a remit to evict and demolish, with the approval of Faro mayor, Rogerio Bacalhau.
The Polis company is due to be wound up at the end of this year but with the demolition programme suspended by Loulé court, it is likely that the government again will extend the life of the company due mainly to its failure to carry out much of the work it was charged with doing.
