President to Eliminate Departments Accused of ‘Sabotage’

Drawing from the Stalinist lexicon, the President of Madeira stated yesterday: ‘My intention, if I continue in office, is to cut back all those public administration services which block, get in the way, or sabotage all investment’.

He reminded that he had given orders a few years ago to facilitate everything. ‘Happily, the Municipalities all played along, but some Public Administration Departments did not understand what I said and want to be a government within the government. Obviously that is going to end’.

The President announced his intention to ‘extinguish’ the departments that ‘perturbed the development of Madeira’ and ‘disturbed the life of the Municipalities’.

Many investments, by law, require a technical OK from different state departments. A few years ago, in the case of large investments by the President’s personal friends and henchmen, the Municipalities would waive all these requirements aside as formalities and approve any project regardless of legal requirements and of the urban regulations limiting the size and types of buildings allowed.

Some of these cases were taken to court, causing much distress among the President’s men.  Government departments were henceforth pressured to rubber stamp OKs, even when these were against all regulations: such as building mega-projects in environmentally protected areas.