On Wednesday, on the city of Horta, the Regional Secretary for Agriculture and Forestry assured that the labour dispute involving workers from the Fisheries and Agriculture Financing Institute "will be resolved."
Speaking in Parliament, Noé Rodrigues recognised that "the resolution of this problem is not easy, unlike some people would like to make us believe."
The Secretary for Agriculture and Forestry also said "we don´te despise those workers, but it is important to bear in mind that it is not easy to integrate in the Regional Public Administration workers from the banking sector."
He said that the Region is not the entity that is responsible for the administration of IFAP workers in the Azores. He added that the representatives from the administration are coming to the region to resolve the situation.
The Secretary also denied allegations that there are delays in implementation of Pro-rural programme.
He explained that the implementation of the programme began approximately one year ago, on the 14th of December of 2007, and that the pertinent governmental dispatches for the execution of the assistance programme were adopted in March of last year.