Renewal works of Velas Cold Storage Unit on São Jorge starts today, says Gui Menezes
The Regional Secretary for the Sea, Science and Technology added that the contract work for the improvement and expansion of the Cold Storage Unit in Velas on São Jorge Island started Wednesday, stressing that it represents an investment of nearly one million Euros.
According to Gui Menezes, the works aim to "improve the industrial capacity of the Cold Storage Unit in order to ensure the good conservation of fish caught on the island of São Jorge and, consequently, contribute to its promotion."
The Regional Secretary also stressed the importance of this contract work to "improve the conditions" of this infrastructure "in terms of freezing and refrigerating capacity." With the improvement and expansion works of Velas Cold Storage Unit, "the Government of the Azores fulfils the commitment it has made to São Jorge fishers."
The contract work was awarded to the company Tecnovia-Açores and has a completion period of 365 days. The company RC Consultores will be in charge of monitoring and coordinating the safety procedures.
It should be noted that this work was subject to prior approval of the Court of Auditors, which was only granted in the end of June.
The Velas Cold Storage Unit will be equipped with a 40-tonne cold storage chamber for the preservation of frozen fish, a 25-tonne refrigerated storage chamber, a freezing tunnel with capacity of 10 tonnes per cycle and an air-conditioned area for preparation and processing of fish, covering an area of 40 m2.
The project also includes the expansion of the current building with the construction of a new floor, with an area over 100 m2, for the installation of the entire administrative services to support the operation of this facility.