Vila Verde Santa Maria

These last few weeks have been hectic and fraught with second snagging madness on the Island of Sal in Cape Verde.

The resort of Vila Verde Santa Maria is now really starting to come together. There have been some delays, as we all know, that Tecnicil tell us have been rooted mainly in logistics, but overall the site is looking better and better.

Issues we have seen? Well, the shutter clasps are still causing us some fun over there. Clearly the Africans want the shutters to be closed all the time! In truth it could be a design defect more than a snag. The shutters that are composed of four pieces only get two clasps so if you try and open them out completely they sort of fly away from you.

The famous fridge door / light fitting is still not solved. Tecnicil have suggested that the fridge doors be set to open the other way which might be a solution for all the left handers out there but is a bit of a short cut. Someone asked if this is reason enough not to go to title deed? We wouldn't think so, after all, it's best to be reasonable. In saying that, Tecnicil should provide a solution as it is a bit daft the way it is now.

For those of you far away, you can be sure that we are thinking of you, so fret not. We are on the case!

The first communities have received their habitation licence so this is great news. Not so great is the fact that Electra the power and water company have decided they are just not up to the task of supplying power to these communities as yet. So Tecnicil seem to have laid down all the power lines, connected metres and now Electra have decided to go away and not be a power company for a while. Tecnicil assure us that this will be solved in the next week or so but it is frustrating.

A little bit of background might be interesting here.

Sal Island has two main companies that can supply power.

1. Electra, the state power company that owes every fuel supplier in Cape Verde huge amounts of money. Rumour has it that if they request fuel from Shell, they have to pay cash! For this reason there are so many power cuts in the capital city Praia.

2. Cabocan, the Spanish water and power company that is situation right next to Vila Verde Resort. However, they do NOT have a concession to provide power to places like Vila Verde. They have requested to be able to do this, apparently, but they have had no luck as yet.

So it does appear that we might be in the dark on this one! However, as we move towards a more complete Vila Verde the sheer pressure from Tecnicil and Tecnicil's clients will be such that a solution will be found. Of this we are sure.

For now, apart from shutters and slightly loopy light fittings, Vila Verde Santa Maria is looking great and the snags we discovered in the first and second inspections are practically all corrected.

On to the next communities. Tecnicil have said that the next two communities to be completed are Coprosma and Atriplex. So if you haven't already organised the snagging for these communities, or indeed the other communities, then come on, contact us via info@snaggingoverseas.com and we'll go into bat for you.