District Public Works

For centuries the improvements ordered by the government in mainland Portugal – such as the building of the Cathedral (Sé Catedral) and of various churches, the military fortifications, some public buildings, the roads and others besides – had no central department to supervise them and direct them properly, not only in their administration but also in the technical direction of the various works to be carried out. This work was handled through several public departments, such as the secretariat of the archipelago’s Superior Government, the local military commanders, the Treasury Superintendency (Provedoria da Fazenda) and the municipalities, while engineers or technical experts were sent from Lisbon to direct the larger works.

It was only in 1852 that a department called the ‘Direcção das Obras Públicas Distritais’ (District Public Works Directorate) was created in Funchal to direct and administer all these works. The central government granted it an annual allocation, which was always very limited and varied from year to year, despite the constant requests made from this island. The department was headed by an engineer and had the necessary staff. It was often directed by officials who left their names linked to important public improvements, such as the engineers Major Tibério Blanc, Captains Júlio Augusto de Leiria and Henrique de Lima e Cunha, and others besides.

This situation lasted until 1901, when administrative autonomy was granted to this district. All the services handled by that department then passed to the public works department of the District General Council (Junta Geral), and the former department was abolished.