The Minister of Environment of the Junta de Andalucia, José Juan Díaz Trillo, yesterday reiterated that the proposed treatment plant in Nerja would cost €40.7 million and serve a population of 100,000, facts already known by one and all, but made no mention of when proceedings might actually start.
The clock is ticking as it is only four years until the treatment of waste becomes a legal requirement under EU law.
It has taken forty years, so far, to get absolutely nowhere with the construction of a sewage plant, various administrations failing miserably to keep their promises. The nearest things ever got was probably about eight years ago when the government of José María Aznar agreed to build an open plant with a capacity of 20,000 inhabitants.
Clearly unsuitable on two counts, potential odours and insufficient capacity (Nerja has a winter population of over 20,000 and a summer population of around 80,000), this plan was denounced by the Council.
The current situation is further complicated by the court ruling that Nerja Council must pay nearly €1 million compensation to land owners in Fuente del Baden due to the land being undervalued when the appropriation occurred, something the Council is not keen to do.
Until the powers-that-be come to their senses, the residents of Nerja, and visitors to the town, have to put up with raw sewage being pumped into the sea. Hardly ideal for a town dependent upon tourism and claiming to be the premier resort.
Forget building 8,000 new houses (where’s the market?), hotel complexes, new business premises (look how many are currently empty, including new ones), new Town Halls (the old one isn’t that old), underground car parks etc, and build something that is needed for a change.
ken says:
Here here! Yes I and quite a few other I know will be voting for a change.