João Pereira Silva made the announcement during his opening speech at the 2nd International Tourism Encounter, which ends today on Sal, following a speech by Américo Silva, the president of the National Association of Cape Verdean Municipalities (ANMCV), who spoke precisely of the conflicts that had arisen between local and central authorities as a result of the management of the ZDTIs.

Silva told A Semana Online that in 1993, when the ZDTI mechanism was created, the policy made sense given the scenario at the time, in which the government feared a run on available land because of tourism. “The government was scared that all of these lands would be private, and that with the advance of tourism people would start selling them off left and right, and afterwards there would be problems with the creation of lots, population density, etc.,” justified the minister.

The scenario, however, changed, and the current government is aware it can “influence the development of these areas without these restricted reserves of land,” says Silva, as today legal mechanisms exist that allow it to exert this influence.

According to the minister, as the government is aware that the ZDTIs have been contested as a result of the much-talked-about legislative anomalies, especially regarding the expropriation of private property and the respective monetary compensation, it will propose a new structure for the management of lands before the end of the year. In 2005, says Silva, the government carried out the first reform in the area, “which allowed for a greater level of participation on the part of municipal governments regarding the revenues coming from the sale of ZDTI lands, as well as more guarantees in the expropriation process.”

Silva makes a point of stressing that the government is committed to correcting these “anomalies,” and affirmed that the compensation process, aimed at extinguishing part of the controversy surrounding the ZDTIs, is nearly complete. With this proposal, the government wants “Cape Verde to dictate the rules and not the market, in this case, promoters. This is the main issue,” he concludes.

The minister also took the occasion to “demystify” the issue of the ZDTIs, and affirmed that the land sold corresponds to only one percent of Cape Verde’s territory. In the case of Boa Vista and Maio, Silva guarantees that a survey carried out revealed that private property on the two islands accounts for no mare than 2% of the total of the ZDTIs. Most of these special lots, he says, “are located on the island of Santiago, where most of them have so far failed to stir major interest.”

Jorge Santos, the new leader of Cape Verde’s largest opposition party, the MpD, said he was “surprised” with the announcement from the Minister of the Economy. In an interview with Cape Verdean National Radio, Santos concluded that the declaration did nothing but bring even more disinformation regarding the ZDTI issue, as it failed to clarify “the government’s future position regarding the issue, fully respecting municipal autonomy.” In Santos’ opinion, the way in which plots of land have been distributed shows a “flagrant disrespect for municipal autonomy.”

Sal mayor Jorge Figueiredo, for his part, did not seem impressed with João Pereira Silva’s speech, although he sees the minister’s announcement as a positive sign, albeit late in coming. Particularly on the islands of Sal and Boa Vista, Figueiredo says that “the government has already sold practically all of the ZDTIs of any importance, and getting rid of the law now is of no importance to me,” he concluded.

Source A Semana