Azores Situation Report Wednesday 29th May 2024

Seven islands in the Azores under yellow warning due to sometimes heavy rain

The Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA) placed the islands in the Eastern and Central groups of the Azores under yellow warning, between this Tuesday and Wednesday, due to sometimes heavy rain.

According to the IPMA bulletin, on the islands of São Miguel and Santa Maria, which make up the Eastern group, the yellow warning for precipitation is valid between 10pm today and 12pm on Wednesday.

On the islands of Faial, Pico, São Jorge, Graciosa and Terceira, the yellow warning has been in force since 6am and will be valid until midnight today.

Wave of robberies scares residents of Lomba da Maia

Cars, homes and commercial establishments are no escape from robberies. President of the parish council shares concern and fears that residents will take justice into their own hands.

Cafes, fuel pumps, “everything commercial establishment in Lomba da Maia has already been robbed”, says the mayor.

Several homes have also been the target of robberies: “Elderly people are getting scared. The other day, they robbed the house of an elderly woman, who since she moved into the house 35 years ago, never closed the back door and that’s how they entered. People have been sleeping with the lights on.”

According to statements, the number of robberies is reaching around fifty. But there could be more, which is why the president of the parish council urges the population to file a complaint with the police authorities, collaborating with residents who have no way of getting to the nearest police station.
“We encourage people to make complaints. Those who don’t have a vehicle, we transport them in the council’s van to the Maia police station, the closest”.

Alberto Pacheco da Ponte says that the robberies are due to the drug addiction problem, which is getting worse in the parish, and that they generally occur in the early hours of the morning. “And it’s not just in Lomba da Maia: in neighbouring parishes there are also reports of robberies of the same type”, he adds.

The mayor says he has already taken several initiatives to combat the problem but admits that it is proving difficult to control the situation. “We have already made complaints to the PSP, which has been making rounds in the parish, almost every day, at different times”.

More than 100 packages of food seized in São Miguel

The Azores Territorial Command, through the Ponta Delgada Territorial Post, seized 112 packages of frozen food products on the island of São Miguel.

According to a statement, following an inspection action, within the scope of the goods in circulation regime, GNR personnel approached a vehicle that “was transporting various frozen food products destined for sale to the final consumer, without these being properly refrigerated”.

The action resulted in the identification of a 51-year-old man, and a misdemeanour report was drawn up for transporting, storing and selling “foodstuffs with a lack of requirements and without the rules for safeguarding cleanliness and hygiene having been complied with”.

This infraction is considered a “serious economic offense, punishable by a maximum fine of 3,000 euros, with the facts being informed to the Regional Inspection of Economic Activities”, says the GNR statement.

Still during the investigations carried out, on May 21st, and after the “hygienic and sanitary check by the municipal veterinarian of the municipality of Lagoa, it was certified that the food items were suitable for human consumption, and the goods were delivered to an institution of social solidarity”.

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