Cape Verde Lights Up!! Vila Verde has Power!.. What now Dr Frank?!?!

BREAKING NEWS....................................VILA VERDE HAS SEEN THE LIGHT........!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

At long last Electra - the Utility company for all of the islands in the Cape Verde Archipelago - has assumed responsibility for the connection of the water and the electricity which means the Green Village should soon start resembling the Vila Verde real estate development that is on the website and the original Cape Verde promotional materials!! (Remember them?! – Tom Baker was Doctor Who!! )

Positive news indeed and now that one hurdle is cleared, oh the joys and delights of the Cape Verdean bureaucratic connection system come next!! And if you thought the Indian civil service had a reputation for over staffing………! This is a civil service even Sir Humphrey would be proud to lead around the maze at Hampton court!

Once you have signed your Cape Verdean title deed and are the proud owner of an apartment on the Island of Sal – as many people have already done a long long time ago on the island of Mindelo not so far far away – you will receive the official legal documents stating that you are now the proud owner of your property on the Vila Verde development. These documents need to be taken to the Electra office and produced along with your passport and several other documents to prove you are the legal owner of your Sal property.

From our experience it is always far more effective if you set up a direct debt for the monthly "ish" utility payments. We know some people are wary of using these for the fear receiving query able bills, however better to face this possibility knowing when you arrive at 04.00 in the morning your utilities will not have been cut off from lack of payment!!

You can always query the bill when you are there – or as you are on Sal, and you will become Cape Verdean do what the locals do and get somebody else to go and query it for you! The good news is that, like all things in Cape Verde, even if you don't pay we are told that they sometimes can take up to a year to cut you off! So sometimes the delays work in your favour!

Here at Snagging Overseas we offer a connection service to save you the journey and, above all the queue. So please contact us on info@snaggingoverseas.com and book your utilities with us now. The first 20 clients get a 20% discount!

This is how most people feel after leaving the Electra office….! But at least you’ll be connected!

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.