Portimão disgrace

Dear Editor,
I am not sure whether we are meant to feel sorry for Portimão Câmara – bleating as it always seems to be doing over money – but I learnt of a story last week (verified by the Portuguese papers) that demonstrates how ineffectual the council must be at organising its workforce.
A team of men was found working on a private building project during time where they should have been working for the Câmara. Presumably those men were doing it for pecuniary advantage. I cannot imagine they were doing it out of the kindness of their hearts!
And yet we hear the council is asking everyone to stump up yet more money for taxes, because they can’t pay their bills. Little wonder! This is not the first story of the cushy life in Câmaras!
I have heard of timetables that involve breaks to “stoke up the grill for sardines”. Extraordinary!
G. Philpott
Lagoa