The Alberta Lima music and dance school is based in Matosinhos, Portugal. At the moment, he is going through many difficulties, due to water infiltration resulting from the landlord's poor management of the space in which he is located.
The Alberta Lima School of Music and Dance has been in existence for 42 years, in Matosinhos. The lease value has always remained the same, €1600 monthly (except for a €200 fee for 6 months during the pandemic period) and with the addition of other expenses such as water, electricity, internet, pass music, Portuguese society of authors, space maintenance, VAT, insurance, among others.
And for 42 years we've been faced with the same problem. What we've been through during these years has never been exposed, but now it's time to do it because we've reached an unsustainable point.
We are a private school and this has been the main and only reason why they refuse to provide any kind of support and/or solution.
After surviving with a lot of difficulties and a significant loss of students to a pandemic where the rent was never paid, even so, what are the obligations of the semhorio were never put into practice. Whenever the landlady's intervention was requested, it was due to highly serious situations relating to the maintenance of the property's structure, essentially the roof and the gutters. That said, recently and after much insistence on our part and a visit from the civil protection to the site, which banned the use of the space until works were carried out (which lasted for 1 year behind closed doors) these works were then carried out in the locker room area and bathrooms, thus representing ¼ of what is problematic at school.
Every winter we face a degrading situation of water ingress and infiltration in a large part of our space and this week it has already been felt in even more worrying and aggravated dimensions, flooding in the school's reception area every time rain has been a constant in the last few hours.
Once an expert has climbed onto the roof, what he has come across is not acceptable. From broken tiles to holes, a water drain pipe notoriously disengaged by human hand and turned over our roof, rotten gutters and insufficient for the amount of water that accumulates and infiltrates the walls, a large part of the roof is asbestos (which was banned 15 years ago).
At this moment, our school does not have the necessary working or safety conditions for us to maintain our activity normally, receive our children and teachers in safety.
The damage done between yesterday and today is already taken into account, and those that will add up if the storm persists.
It is urgent that the entities trained for this purpose act and help us to resolve this situation that has been going on for too long without any solution in sight. But our hopes have already been exhausted in this regard...
From this date onwards, whenever it rains, water will enter the school, causing constant flooding.
A family, an integral part of the direction and core of teachers, lives and depends on this school.
As the oldest school in Matosinhos, we have been actively contributing for 42 years to the growth of culture and art, music and dance, the formation and happiness of many young people, also participating in various cultural activities in and for the city.
Is it fair to be forgotten and abandoned by those above us and with power to do justice? If no one with power does anything for us, then let our voice be heard by the community, today for me, tomorrow for you!
Attached are photographs and videos that prove what we mentioned above.
Regards,
The direction,
Alberta Lima School of Music and Dance, Matosinhos