On Sal's tourism and investment: Reply to Sal Pres. Figueiredo

COMMENT ON THE INTERVIEW OF SAL PRESIDENT JORGE FIGUEIREDO PUBLISHED IN EXPRESSO DAS ILHAS ( 30 Dezembro 2013)
by: Sheilah Ocampo Kälfors Freelance journalist and writer


Jorge Figueiredo, President of the Municipality of Sal island says in an interview by Infopress, published in Expresso das Ilhas ( 2013-12-30), that 2013 represented a "quase total" paralization of Sal's economy. He gives the following reasons:

- that the property development market suffered from the worldwide economic and financial crises. Since houses and apartments for sale faced a slump in the market, the revenue that represents 40% of the municipal growth which is generated from payments of property tax known as IUP or Impostto Unico sob Patrimonio decreased significantly.

"Without transactions in property, there is no collection of IUP and without IUP, the income of the municipality goes down. It is like wanting to make omelette without eggs", he states.

He says that tourism has had no positive effects in the island and has not created any new jobs. Unemployment in Sal is 17 percent.

In response to the above statement of the Sal Municipal President, I wish to make the following comments:

- the worldwide economic and financial crises have indeed affected many countries, especially in Europe. Thus, buying properties abroad by small and major investors decresed considerably. This has been experienced by Sal's depressed property market.

On the other hand, the Cape Verde government and specifically the Municipality of Sal can introduce some important incentives to help property development and sales, by improving infrastructures such as roads and lightings, esp. in the south part Sal where so-called "Oceanfront properties" are located. This area known as the dark side of Sal attracts criminals at night and threatens the peace and security of residents.

One major difficulty faced by those that have invested in properties here in Sal ( as well as other Cape Verde islands) is the visa requirements. In order to get a resident's visa, it is not enough that one is a property owner with a land title to prove ownership. One has to have a criminal record certificate, certificate of bank account, certificate of IUP payment, health certificate and so on. If one is late because there's no available doctor to issue a health certificate, one pays a fine of 100 euros. This visa problem is a disincentive.

- in the area of tourism, the Municipality has not improved the tourism infrastructures such as roads to Buracona and other touristic places. There are no sufficient air and water transportation to visit other islands. Without tourist attractions there will be no revenues except those that go to hotels. Tourist arrivals to Sal have increased significantly. For instance, from Scandinava alone, there are three planes arriving every week.

- in the area of entrepreneursip, there are no incentives to facilitate small and medium business . License application takes a very long waiting time. As for major investments such those in inter-island shipping - for example, the acquisition of passenger and cargo ships- the regulations and procedures are unclear.

Cape Verde has to introduce simplified rules that are easy to follow. Shipping is crucial to connect the islands socially, economically and politically. It is an urgent priority if Cape Verde has to survive as an independent and economically sustainable country#