The municipal group of Ciudadanos (Cs) in Orihuela has denounced the fact that only five of the 60 agricultural labourers hired by the Ayuntamiento have been assigned to the coast, a measure, they say, that represents a new disregard for the Orihuela Costa.
As it does every July, the council hired 60 agricultural labourers whose main function is the weeding and cleaning of green areas, roads and streets, in rural areas and in Orihuela Costa
Luisa Boné, Ciudadanos councillor, has denounced the fact that only 5 of these workers have been assigned to the coast. These personnel, who are so badly needed on the Orihuela coast, and who have been requested by the local residents, are being employed in Orihuela city and the pedanías “due to a capricious and arbitrary decision by Víctor Valverde”.
Boné accused Valverde, councillor for Infrastructures, of ignoring the councillor responsible for Costa, Manuel Mestre, who is once again left without resources by his Partido Popular partners. “By giving up so few workers, Valverde is demeaning Mestre, and what is worse, he is showing his contempt for the residents and tourists of Orihuela Costa,” says Boné.
Already in the last legislature, during the period of PP and Cs government, every year there were disputes between the then councillor for pedanías, Valverde himself, and Boné, who was in charge of Human Resources, over the number of labourers assigned to Orihuela Costa to carry out the clearing work.
Boné has said that “the PP only wants Orihuela Costa for the revenue and the votes of its political commissars, but is not interested in advancing the solutions that those of us who live here demand so much”. “We don’t need any more proof because we can see the continuous exploitation to which we are subjected,” adds the deputy spokesperson for the C’s.
Boné said that she had many difficult discussions with Valverde about the distribution of agricultural labourers in the last legislature as the person responsible for the personnel. Now, without Boné’s presence in local government, “Valverde does as he pleases, with Cllr Mestre seemingly powerless to fight for its interests”, according to Boné.
The councillor added that “it seemed impossible, but this summer will go down in history as the worst by far that we are experiencing on the coast. Abandonment can be seen in every corner and people’s tensions are now close to boiling point. The government team wake up and smell the coffee, leave the partying behind and get to work for all the citizens of the municipality and not just for the chosen few”.
