Dear Friend / Supporter I have been at the front-line in the fight against the oil for the past 7 years. Yes, personally, I have achieved a lot, but one thing it appears that I fail time and time again, is in raising sufficient financial support for ASMAA to keep on fighting. Many months, the shortfall is made up by my long-suffering hubby, but he has now pulled the plug – he’s saying, you have given up your business, your private life and all of your “free” time to this cause, and you continue as a bulldog that has grabbed a bone and will not let go, but the people that will be most affected are just not ready to support your efforts. Stop - Its time to stop and let others run with it. I will not keep on supporting you and ASMAA, because I can see how the sleepiness nights get to you, how the lack of support affects you, and I care about you even if others don’t. That has been his 2018 resolution. I want to prove him wrong. I want to show him that indeed there are many people that care about the threat that oil and gas exploration will do to our communities, to our families, to the environment, to the economy. I don’t expect you to stay up all night working and having endless meetings, I don’t even expect you to do much, but I do expect a bit more financial support to ASMAA than what it has currently or in the past. As we stated in our previous broadcast, ASMAA management does need to be sure that we have at the start of each month a minimum of 3,500€ so that we know that we can do what needs to be done. We are all unpaid volunteers, but we still have costs, and the costs are rising, and will rise even more if we are to do what really needs to be done. In past three days ASMAA received 260,00€ in donations, we thankful to the people that heard that call. Thank you, but we still 3,240.00€ short, and we have various suppliers still to pay. On top of ASMAA not having enough funds to carry costs, our long-suffering vehicle also decided that it was time to give up the fight and stopped on the highway late at night when I was returning home from a meeting. So, are you going to prove my hubby right or are you going to prove that there is indeed people that care and are willing to help so that we can keep on fighting? The decision is yours … our deadline is this Friday the 12 January 2018. If we fail to raise the funds we need, we will have to reassess our priorities. In the meanwhile the following is happening in the south: Saipem has announced on their website that they will be coming to Portugal after Cyprus offshore drilling. Expect that will be around May/June. They are currently in Cyprus. The ENMC website still shows the contracts with Galp/ENI, and the government continues to be moot on what they plan on doing or what is their response to the objections raised by the various municipal mayors. But as things stands now, unless we can stop them or the government stops the contracts, all indications are that they are going to drill. (after all the government voted in favour of oil exploration in December) And in the North, Australis has told investors that they intend drilling their first exploration well this year in the Batalha concession – well ahead of schedule. So, should we throw in the towel? Or are we going to stand up and give our politicians a hard slap in the face, to make them face the truth? It will take a lot of us — in the streets and we will have to take the government to court (Administrative court, Constitutional and maybe even to the European Court of Justice). Or are we going to let them continue to kid us, and cheat our children and grandchildren? It is your choice. If you want to help us to carry on, all it takes is for you to give up a few cups of coffee per week or the cost of one evening out every month. Here’s how easy it to donate to ASMAA. Via PayPal (includes credit card payment facility): info@asmaa-algarve.org or via the link on this page: http://asmaa-algarve.org/en/donate REF: Say NO To Oil VIA BANK TRANSFER SANTANDER TOTTA (LAGOS ALGARVE) ASMAA Algarve Surf and Marine Activities Association IBAN: PT50 0018 0008 02686698020 51 REF: Say NO to Oil Thank you. I’m counting on you. We all are! Laurinda Seabra ASMAA CEO Some links that you may have missed: http://portugalresident.com/oil-drilling-future-asmaa-rolls-out-%E2%80%9Cwhat-is-planned-for-2018%E2%80%9D "... Significantly, Eni has awarded Saipem a contract for the drilling of two wells offshore Cyprus. Work will once again be carried out by the Saipem 12000 and commence in the fourth quarter of 2017. The vessel will be subsequently deployed in Portugal for operations previously announced in 2016 and postponed at the request of the client." ... http://www.saipem.com/sites/SAIPEM_en_IT/con-side-dx/Press%20releases/2017/new%20offshore%20drilling%20contracts.page http://asmaa-algarve.org/en/news/what-s-new/asmaa-highlights-of-2017 http://asmaa-algarve.org/en/news/what-s-new/how-low-can-a-government-go-to-promote-oil-and-gas-exploration-in-portugal http://asmaa-algarve.org/en/news/what-s-new/urgent-appeal-to-all-catholics-the-shrine-sanctuary-of-fatima-under-threat-of-fracking-oil-and-gas-exploration http://asmaa-algarve.org/en/news/what-s-new/as-if-the-fires-where-not-enough-here-comes-fracking-in-pombal-and-batalha-are-you-ready-for-it?highlight=WyJjb250cmFjdCJd