New confrontation between the main opposition group, led by the socialist Fernando Carrera, with the municipal government of Xavier Garcia Albiol. On this occasion the controversy has focused on the lack of maintenance of public roads. While socialists criticize excessive spending on Christmas lights, they warn that there are traffic lights that do not work. For its part, the PP points out that the previous government let the maintenance contracts expire.
The Partit dels Socialistes de Badalona, ??in a press release, states that during the last few days, several traffic light intersections in the city do not work. Important areas such as Plaça Pompeu Fabra, Antoni Bori street, the Gorg neighborhood, Sant Roc or Montigalá. Several neighbors point out “they have sent us their complaints.” For this reason, Carrera has asked the PP government to urgently fix the traffic lights and has warned “that they are a danger to pedestrians and vehicles.” Furthermore, he joked that Xavier Garcia Albiol “is incapable of fixing the traffic lights, but instead will have 65,000 lights for the Christmas tree.”
The reaction of the government, through the Councilor for Territory, Daniel Gracia, once again pointed to the fact that the City Council only has two of the thirteen main contracts in the area of ??Public Roads in force as the cause of the deterioration of the traffic lights. Of these eleven contracts, three have been extended and there is continuity in the service (street cleaning, waste collection and public lighting) and the other eight have completely expired and only minimal services are provided (sewer maintenance, maintenance of the ‘Estrella’ tank, road marking, maintenance of traffic lights, cleaning of the IMPO building, maintenance of the escalators on Fortuny Street, maintenance of the escalators on Solsona Street and maintenance of the elevator on Oceanía Street).
Gracia explained that “this situation inherited from the previous government seriously affects the functioning of the administration, but above all it is noticeable in the daily life of all the residents of the city.” The deputy mayor has highlighted that “not having a road signage contract, for example, means that currently 200 citizens of Badalona with reduced mobility are waiting to have their space marked on the street.”
Daniel Gràcia has had a special impact on the traffic light maintenance contract, which due to its expiration is causing some parts of the city to not have adequate signage. The deputy mayor explained that “the previous government, which is now complaining about the situation, forgot for days to activate the extension of this contract, preventing the company from being able to collect invoices and now being unable to perform more than minimal services.”
Regarding the maintenance contracts for the different mechanical mobility elements, Gràcia has indicated that once the warranty on its installation ended, a maintenance contract was not made, which will be resolved soon. In the case of the escalators on Cuba Street, the deputy mayor has clarified that they will not be able to be put back into operation for 9 months, since the entire internal mechanism will have to be replaced because it has broken down after more than seven months without being in operation.
Faced with this problem, the municipal government is working in several ways. On the one hand, the bidding for contracts that are in extension and some of those that have expired has already begun to be prepared. On the other hand, to speed up the situation, the City Council will adhere to framework maintenance contracts of the Catalan Association of Municipalities, since it is a faster procedure than pure bidding. Furthermore, in the case of mechanical mobility elements, Engestur will be entrusted with management through a framework contract to ensure that this type of situation is not repeated.
During the press conference, the third deputy mayor and councilor for Territory and Sustainability, stressed that “we have not come to the Government to complain, but we are making this public presentation so that the residents of Badalona should know what the situation is. “We find ourselves, which causes that in many cases they do not receive the services they deserve.” “The residents are paying for the incompetence of the previous government; The legacy could not be more frightening, there was absolute neglect with respect to the city’s basic services,” concluded the deputy mayor.
