Once again, when faced with decisions taken by entities under the administration of the National Government that are detrimental to the Region, PSD has responded to them by criticising the Government of the Azores and defending the central government. Firstly, the mayor of Vila do Porto Town Hall and, secondly, the party local branch, lying on behalf of others, have prompted to disclaim responsibility of a decision that has nothing to do with the Regional Government; on the contrary the Regional Government has tried to prevent this decision from being taken thanks to the good understanding of the previous national governments.
In the face of senseless accusations that have been made and following ANA's decision of closing Santa Maria airport overnight, the Regional Government of the Azores clarifies the following:
It is not true that there is any debt owed by the Azorean Government to ANA regarding the operation costs of Santa Maria airport at night.
As it is of public knowledge, the Regional Government has conveyed his willingness to support part of the costs associated with this operation back in 2006. Consequently, and given that such costs were not substantiated and agreed between both parties, it was decided to create a work group with the aim of calculating the aforementioned costs. However, it was never operational although the Regional Government had indicated its representative. Hence, the Government of the Azores, contrary to the accusations made by PSD Açores, has never established any agreement with the National Government to assume those costs. In fact, a final decision on the matter was not awarded priority status and the then Prime Minister José Sócrates intervened on behalf of the Region.
Since then, the Regional Government has never been requested any payment to keep the airport open in the period mentioned.
Moreover, the notification sent to the Regional Secretariat for Economy concerning the closure of Santa Maria airport during nightime did not mention any debt to ANA. In fact, this subject was not mentioned at a recent meeting held between the Regional Secretary for the Economy and the Secretary of State of Transport and Communications. It should be noted that this timetable has been kept without any problem until the recent regional elections, which have led us to believe that if someone knew what was going to happen in advance, it would have to be ANA managers and PSD Açores.
Neither the Government nor any entity or company operating at the Santa Maria airport were heard about this decision, which is even stranger at a time when the State intends to privatize the company. The matter will certainly be subject to further analysis by national entities and the Regional Government in defence of Santa Maria islanders as well as of the importance of the Azores and Portugal in the context of Atlantic and international air navigation.