Vow over neglected Orihuela Costa area
Playground plagued with vermin in Orihuela Costa
Residents of Montezenia are hoping council promises to resolve problems will be kept at their neglected urbanisation
RESIDENTS of one of Orihuela Costa’s oldest and most neglected urbanisations, Montezenia, are hoping that this time the council’s promises to resolve some of its more pressing problems will be kept.
Expat Jason Vango recently showed Costa Blanca News how a children’s playground, installed at significant expense about 18 months ago, had been neglected and become a public health hazard.
Rats, sewage leaks, a litter bin overflowing with bags of dog excrement, drug dealing, a broken irrigation system and overgrown vegetation were among the issues he highlighted. When the overgrowth had last been pruned by the council, the workers simply abandoned the cuttings on an adjacent plot of private land, creating another haven for vermin.
A wastewater pumping station just a few metres away had been frequently leaking sewage, he explained, pointing out remnants of toilet paper, tampons and other detritus around the pipe outlet.
Mr Vango also noted that the road leading down from the pumping station into the adjacent ravine had collapsed in the September and January storms.
The ravine itself is so overgrown that vegetation has covered the pathway through it and much of the exercise equipment that had been installed years before, while the street lights along the path were never even connected to the electricity supply.
Lomas de Cabo Roig residents association (AVCRL) helped Mr Vango to lodge an official complaint with the town hall and within days the health department did put down traps to tackle the rat infestation.
Councillor for town planning, José Aix and his assistant also visited the area to assess what could be done.
Two weeks ago Sr Aix’s assistant told Costa Blanca News that the councillor for parks and maintenance, Ángel Noguera had ordered the cleaning company to tidy up the playground.
Water company Hidraqua had now controlled the sewage leaks, he assured, and would make the building less of an eyesore by ‘enclosing it’.
Furthermore, although most of the ravine is not the responsibility of the town hall, he pledged that once council workers have cleared the overgrowth the street leading down to it will be repaired.
CBN asked for confirmation of these plans from Sr Aix but had not received a reply by the time of going to press.
This week Mr Vango said the bin had finally been emptied and council workers had come to check the rat traps but there had been no other visible progress.
He and his neighbours are now waiting to see if and when their other concerns will finally be addressed.