This Thursday there was a plenary session at El Poble Nou de Benitatxell and, despite having regained attendance, there were still empty chairs. The four councilors of the opposition group, RED CV Benitatxell, did not attend the plenary session. With this, they have not done so for more than two years. The last time they attended, Covid-19 had not yet broken into our lives. But when the pandemic hit, they stopped going to the sessions that, for obvious reasons, have been telematic until today.
Among the issues discussed in the plenary session, the approval of the 2022 budget stands out, which has gone ahead with the seven votes in favor of the government (Més Benitatxell and Gente por Benitachell). This year, the general accounts forecast income of 6.945.000 euros and the exact same amount of expenses.
In these budgets, as the mayor pointed out, Miguel Ángel García, has opted to seek new collection formulas "that revert to municipal services and infrastructures". Of special mention are the 175.000 euros that the City Council plans to enter with the new access control system for the Moraig car park, which will help reinvest the money in improving the area after the overexploitation and degradation of the surroundings of the cove,
especially in the summer months.
On the other hand, the council also plans to pocket 70.000 euros in leases through the exploitation of the heritage assets of the municipality. Among them, work is being done to put order to the "lack of control and chaos inherited from previous legislatures that existed in the Puig Llorença antennas, where a lot of operators and companies operated without any type of legality", so that it is the City Council itself that regulates municipally owned spaces and legitimately earn income.
The plenary session also approved other points of interest such as a new traffic ordinance to regulate, among other aspects, the Moraig parking lot, which will be accompanied by a tax rate that the government is working on, or two motions in support of the health of the region: one in support of the workers of the Department of Health of Dénia, who will go on strike on May 4, 5 and 6, and another to ask for more professionals in the area of
psychiatry.
While other health departments such as Gandía have 10 psychiatrists, the Marina Alta only has 3, and one of them will leave at the end of the month. The region also does not have a psychiatrist on duty. “Mental health, and even more so after everything we have been through with the pandemic, must be on the agenda and be a priority,” said the spokesperson for the Més Benitatxell group, Víctor Bisquert.
The mayor took advantage of the questions and answers section to apologize for the "piling up of works" that are currently being carried out in the municipality. “It is a historical fact that in Benitatxell there are so many investments in infrastructures. There is years of work behind them. Unfortunately, some external factors such as bureaucracy or the rain in recent months have delayed them, but we must make an effort
and have a little patience. We trust that before the patron saint festivities the ones that are now underway will be finished”.
García also recalled two big pieces of news for the City Council accounts: the agreement with the Lady Elizabeth School for the educational center to cover part of the roundabout with 458.814 euros to solve traffic problems, and the extra collection of €227.000 in the
new construction tax inspections (ICIO).
