Alex Trelinski
ORGANISERS of a protest demanding better council services for the Orihuela Costa said that around 500 people turned up outside the Playa Flamenca Town Hall on Tuesday.
The demonstration coincided with a district board meeting.
A motion was proposed that the Valencian government should take over Orihuela council as it was not fulfilling its legal obligations to coastal residents.
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A major ‘hot’ issue concerns inadequate refuse collections during the summer with rubbish piling up on many streets despite a big rise in refuse taxes charged to property and business owners.
The Orihuela Costa Independence Party(PIOC) president, Roman Jimenez, read a statement outside the town hall before a debate and vote on his motion.
He called on Valencia to intervene to provide services ‘that residents pay for and do not get’.
Jimenez added that all political parties in Orihuela had ‘never provided’ what was needed for the coast.
“The area is governed by politicians 35 kilometres away who have proved many times that they do not care about us,” he stated.
The PIOC leader pointed out that it is enshrined in law that a local authority must provide a raft of services including waste collection, water supplies and street cleaning in addition to music schools, sports centres, day centres, a cultural centre and library.
“The Orihuela Costa has none of this, and what it does provide can be considered of a deplorable quality, Jimenez commented.
He also criticised massive investments in Orihuela City like a €100 million project to renovate the historic city centre as well as building a new sports complex and industrial estate, while there was nothing for the coast.
The district board vote went against the PIOC proposal for Valencia to intervene, but there was disquiet about the lack of rubbish collections during the busiest time of the year.
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