The Regional Secretary for the Environment and the Sea considered in Horta today that the implementation of the Strategic Waste Management of the Azores “is one of the main objectives of the Secretariat for this legislative period.”
Speaking at the end of a hearing with the Economics Committee of the Legislative Assembly on the proposals for the Regional Annual Plan and Budget for 2010, Álamo Meneses said that this goal also explains that “the most important investments” for the coming year will focus on waste management.
In addition to the ongoing investments made in the waste centre on Flores and Graciosa, we will soon start the work on Corvo and we are also preparing the projects regarding the remaining cohesion islands,” said the Secretary.
Álamo Meneses remembered, nevertheless, that in addition to these direct investments on the different islands, “there is an investment that must be done in the transport and management of waste to be exported for sorting.”
As other important areas comprised by the plan for 2010, the Regional Secretary also stressed the protection of the coastal areas through the execution of various works to ensure the safety of the population living near the sea as well as the protection of nature, particularly the management of natural areas and the preservation of biodiversity.
With regard to energy, the main investment aims to simulate the Azorean market of renewable energies, giving emphasis to the PROENERGIA programme.
For Álamo Meneses, a significant change in the PROENERGIA programme under a proposal submitted by Government to the Parliament may lead to a “significant increase in the demand for the investment in that area.”
Under the Plan for 2010, the amount of 61.2 million Euros will be allocated to the Regional Secretariat for the Environment and the Sea.