The President of the Government of the Azores said today that, sometimes, the dimension of the progresses accomplished in the Azores over the last years are not well understood, and those progresses, as he emphasised, were not few.

Carlos César, who presided over the ceremony to lay the first stone for the remodelling and expansion of the Terra Chã Casa do Povo (Community Hall) day nursery and kindergarten “Girassol,” said that “regarding childhood and youth, 56 day nurseries have already been created at a Regional level, supporting nearly two thousand children which is about twice as many as there were a decade ago.”

The President also stated that “the same has happened with the ATL (Free Time Occupation Centre) structures, which have increased to 120, comprising five thousand children. With regard to the available services for children and youngsters, the Region currently has three hundred and eleven infrastructures – the triple in comparison to the last decade. Thus, we are way better in this and also in many other areas.”

The President of the Government also said that, with these undertakings on Terceira, the covering of the infrastructure network in the area of childhood on Terceira Island was completed. Carlos César underlined that “the infrastructure network and social services for day nurseries and kindergartens, regarding their educational and family support components, work as a factor for equal access, ensuring an education of quality for all.”

For these reasons, the Government has implemented many infrastructures that are administered and managed by credited social service and social solidarity institutions, added the President.

Stressing the evolution of the Terra Chã village, whose Casa do Povo was praised for its dynamism, Carlos César justified the importance of other investments in that village, such as the forthcoming construction of 46 new houses for underprivileged families, an investment with a total amount of 2.8 million Euros.

“We are working and investing here to promote and to assure the social development of the children and of the families of this village. This is what politics should be,” stated Carlos César.

The works which were now launched to remodel and expand the day nursery and kindergarten “Girasol,” in a total amount of 780 thousand Euros, aim to complete remodel the current building, where a day nursery for 58 children until the age of 3 and a kindergarten room for 25 children aged between 3 and 5 will be installed.