Torrevieja parks contract required an inspection of the condition of all palm trees in September

The company that won the contract to take care of the green spaces in Torrevieja in March of this year has to give a full report on the condition of all the city’s plants and how well they are being cared for within the first three months of the contract. They also have to make an annual plan and monthly plans for maintenance.

The PSOE spokesperson in Torrevieja, Bárbara Soler, said at a press conference today, Tuesday November 18th, that this report should have been filed by June at the latest. This was after a tragic accident on Friday afternoon that killed a 22-year-old man who was driving his car on the CV-905 and hit a palm tree that had weevil damage.

The contract is arriving, therefore it’s done

Soler said that the steps Mayor Eduardo Dolón made following the incident, such as checking on the city’s more than 5,500 palm trees, are “not a flagship commitment; they are just the application of the protocol in the green space maintenance contract.” He went on to say, “These actions will not be taken as an extraordinary measure to protect citizens through their good work, but rather as something the corporation is already getting paid for and that is part of the contract. A business that will get 113 million euros from the people of Torrevieja.

Soler did not directly name the company that takes care of parks and gardens, Actúa (Grupo Hozono Global), in either the news conference or the statement that followed.

Questions

The Socialist spokesperson started her speech by sending her condolences and solidarity to the family and friends of the young guy. She said that the city group had been unsure about holding this press conference because “We thought it was something that needed to be handled with great care and compassion, but also with firmness.” She still said that, in her perspective, it was important to find out who was to blame, “whether criminal or financial.”

“It’s not the first time”

The Socialist spokesperson said that this is not the first time something like this has happened in the municipality. Last June, another palm tree fell on the central Paseo Vistalegre. Luckily, no one was hurt, and there was no mention of a general inspection at the time. She said, “These statements by the Mayor, saying that the palm trees will be checked, have only made people doubt whether or not the company is doing what it promised to do, because it is being paid on time.”

The PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party) has spoken out against the poor upkeep of green spaces over the last two years, especially in residential neighbourhoods, where they say it was “never their turn” to do anything. They remembered that before the new contract, the City Council was already paying €260,000 a month for a service that “there were no work orders or reports justifying what the company had actually done that month.” Still, the payments were approved as normal.

The before and after

With the current contract now in effect, Soler criticised the City Council for posting “before and after” photos of certain areas on social media: “They don’t even blush when they post before-and-after photos, when it turns out that the company awarded the service contract is the same one that had the green areas in a deplorable state (previously as a joint venture). In other words, we acknowledge that we were paying €260,000 a month for the systematic neglect of maintenance obligations, and now we boast about the fact that maintenance is being carried out, as if that weren’t what should have been done before as well.”

“We citizens can’t rely on chance to tell us when the palm tree next to us is due for pruning or if it has been treated for the weevil or if it will be next week. We need promises. And we will work hard to get them. So that what shouldn’t have happened doesn’t happen again.

Ask for the file and hold anyone responsible

The PSOE has asked for the whole file for the current contract so they may ensure that the required reports have been sent and the required checks have been done. Soler said, “Someone has to take responsibility,” meaning that someone needs to be responsible for any costs that aren’t covered by insurance for the accident.

The spokesperson said that, in her opinion, “the saddest part of this story is that it could have been avoided.” She said that prevention should have been a top priority, especially in a city that has been dealing with the red palm weevil infestation for years, as the council itself has said.

The pentapartite Soler stressed that sick specimens must be removed when they represent a risk, and he remembered that this policy was highly criticised when the People’s Party was in opposition. He did, however, say that “the safety of Torrevieja residents comes first.”

The PSOE says the public needs to be sure. “We citizens can’t rely on luck, like whether or not the palm tree next to us needs to be pruned soon or if it has been treated with the weevil or if it will be next week. We need promises. And we are going to work to get them. He said, “So that what shouldn’t have happened doesn’t happen again.”