The elected President of the Republic, António José Seguro, heard this Monday, February 16, the concerns of the population and mayors of the municipality of Montemor-o-Velho, on the first day after voting in locations where the elections were postponed due to bad weather.
“It’s my duty to find out about the situation,” said Seguro upon arriving at Celeiro dos Duques de Aveiro, in the village of Pereira, after some residents asked him to “do something” for them.
After spending a week in his office at the Palácio de Queluz, where he maintained contact with mayors, Antonio José Seguro took to the streets “to listen to people and gather information”.
At the local pharmacy, he asked one of the technicians to, in addition to selling medicines, also listen to the residents and avoid some loneliness.
The presence of the elected President of the Republic aroused the curiosity of the population, who took advantage of the occasion to ask to take photos, first at the pharmacy and then at the Igreja Matriz de Santo Estêvão, where a young man asked the mayor of Montemor-o-Velho, José Veríssimo, to be a photographer for a few seconds.
António José Seguro passed through the Formoselha Bridge, where they promised to send him, at his request, reports and some solutions for that location.
In Marujal, he visited a two-family house, where only on the last night the water, which entered the ground floor, began to recede, and the “sea” of water that submerged a field of corn and rice was still clearly visible at the back.
“It was a huge distress to see my in-laws left without a home. They live downstairs”, said one of the residents.
The President-elect then headed towards Ereira, which he gained access to on board a marine amphibious car.
At the Ereira Cultural and Sports Association, he met Joaquim Coelho, the owner of what is always “the first house in Ereira to flood and the last to run out of water”.
“I had meter and a half of water at home”, he said, also indicating that the pumps that allow the water accumulated in the agricultural fields to be sent to the main Mondego channel “need maintenance”.
“I don’t promise you anything, but I came to see: I came to collect information that for me is quite important. And that about the bomb machines and bombs that should have been working there and could have minimized damage, is already registered, there is no need to take note”, stated the President-elect.
Other people, concentrated at the entrance to the Ereira Cultural and Sports Association also asked for “attention to the bombing”.
“The lower Mondego was forgotten a long time ago”, they lamented.
After having lunch at this association, António José Seguro will head to Coimbra, with stops at Coimbra City Hall, Cerca de Santo Agostinho and Parque Verde, on the banks of the River (Mondego).
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