Councillors get rough ride on roads
Town hall accused of losing grant
THE GOVERNING team in Benitachell faced demands to resign after standing accused of losing a valuable €200,000 grant from the provincial government.
The cash from Alicante was offered to asphalt roads in urbanisations surrounding the town and Mayor Miguel Ángel García and his colleagues were alleged to have missed an end of year deadline.
However, the town hall team has responded to opposition calls for them to stand down saying the subsidy of €198,000 was safe – and the mayor could now formerly ratify the agreement with Alicante if needed.
The storm over the grant blew up with less than 100 days until local elections are staged across Spain in May.
Spokeswoman for the Partido Popular in Benitachell and a member of the governing alliance until a vote of no confidence ousted the team last year, Myra Van’t Hoff - supported by members of the RED and PIDEB parties - have called for an emergency council meeting and will ask for the resignations.
She said they should stand down 'in the light of the seriousness of the events that occurred' and said the current mayor 'preferred' to go on holiday rather than formerly accepting the grant.
And the councillor added: “A government that loses a subsidy of €200,000 does not deserve to continue for another minute.”
She said it was a government’s obligation to work for the community and the project was to maintain and improve streets in the urbanisations where many foreign residents lived – accusing the mayor of having ‘little or no interest” in the areas.
Mayor García and his colleagues immediately hit back emphasising the money was not lost – the subsidy had been accepted on December 31, following a meeting and ahead of the cut off.
It was explained the council secretary was away and the replacement had been 'saturated' with work at the time.
The mayor said the provincial government did receive a confirmation over the project. “This important subsidy of €198,000 will reach Benitachell and will allow resurfacing of roads that are damaged and improve the quality of life of the residents of the municipality.”