The Regional Secretary for Agriculture and the Environment stated that the "life of human life is priceless" at the opening ceremony of the redevelopment works of the Urban Area of Fajãzinha on Flores.
 
"This is the fulfilment of a commitment made during the current legislative period with the people of this village, through the President of the Village Council. Its purpose - protect people and property - has been especially relevant for this Government," said Luís Neto Viveiros.
 
The government official pointed out that, bearing this goal in mind, the Government of the Azores has launched "22 contract works throughout the archipelago since 2012, which represent a global public investment of 10.7 million Euros."
 
"11 are already complete, while six are in tender phase and the others are in the process of being awarded," revealed the government official.
 
"The Region has never invested so much in prevention and safety of population regarding the risks associated to water resources," noted Neto Viveiros. He added that, "compared to 1.7 million Euros allocated in 2012, this year's Plan provides an overall amount over six million Euros for these interventions."
 
That is, he said, "the budget appropriations for this purpose tripled" because, "in addition to contract works, we must take into consideration the investment in maintenance and cleaning of water lines."
 
Luís Neto Viveiros restated that these investments make the Government proud "because the value of human life is priceless." In this regard, he noted that, in addition to the "rehabilitation of the hydrographic network of the urban area of Fajãzinha and the repaving of the old branch road, opened today, "the works carried out upstream of the Village are near completion; they included the diversion of rainwater coming from the slope overlying the regional road."
 
As he added, this is a total investment over 1.6 million Euros.
 
The Regional Secretary also pointed out that, "besides the significant work completed and that in progress," the Government "has also developed a programme for monitoring the slope in partnership with the Regional Civil Engineering Laboratory."
 
"I stress that, recently, the Legislative Assembly has approved the Flood Risk Management Plan that covers five river basins in our Region, including the Ribeira Grande basin, here on Flores," said the government official.