The Nerja Employers Association, AEN, has joined the call for the Junta to ‘get a move on’ with the proposed residual water processing plant.
Another summer, another huge influx of tourists….and another year without a processing plant to prevent the discharge of raw sewage into the sea.
The sewage plant project, budgeted at €36 million, has suffered decades of delays. The site is known, an area next to urbanisation Fuente del Baden, but that’s about it. Before the project can even be put out to tender, an environmental impact study has to be undertaken and no-one seems to know the exact state of play on that score.
Despite repeated enquiries, the Local Council do not know if the study is in the draft stage or even whether it has actually been commissioned yet. All political parties in Nerja agree (for once) that the project needs to get underway as soon as possible and a new ‘nudge’ is being given to the relevant authorities.
The lack of a proper water treatment plant is viewed not only as harmful to the tourist industry but also as a public health risk.
The only surprise in the whole saga is that in an area where raw sewage is pumped into the sea, and ‘slicks’ are frequently and clearly visible, two beaches manage to obtain the prestigious ‘Blue Flag’ year after year!