Ana Sampaio Monteiro is the MPT candidate for the Chamber
“This municipality is part of the Douro Demarcated Region and around 90% of the population, or perhaps more, lives off the vineyard, lives off agriculture and, as we know, the situation of the Douro vineyards and wines is extremely precarious,” he stated.
The MPT's top candidate also pointed to the "drastic reduction" of the benefit, considering this cut a "scourge" for farmers who face increasingly high production costs. She therefore proposed the creation of a "strong winegrower support office" and argued that a municipal council could be "a body that exerts significant pressure" on the government to "further protect small and medium-sized farmers."
The second reason given by Ana Sampaio Monteiro is the fact that, 51 years after the 25th of April, this is “the first time that a woman has appeared as a candidate” for the municipality of Alijó.
A secondary school teacher, historian and co-author of the project “Entre Tempos” (Porto Editora's secondary school textbooks), the MPT candidate was born in Mozambique, grew up in Alijó, lived and worked in Porto, and returned to the municipality five years ago.
Return"When I returned to Alijó, I found that, after 20 years, there had been an incredible decline on all levels," he emphasized, noting that there were other factors contributing to this decline besides the population loss in the interior.
He states that Alijó "is not growing, the group of parishes has stagnated over time, there is a lack of infrastructure and many services have been lost."
HealthHe'll fight for a "night service" because "we only have it until 8:00 PM, and even then it's not an emergency, whereas Alijó already had a night service. The nearest emergency room is in the district capital, Vila Real, and this creates great insecurity," he said.
He added that the municipality has a vast material and immaterial heritage and criticized the current government for “not being interested in preserving this heritage” and for leaving it “abandoned.”
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