Costa Blanca News

'Water for all' call

- By Dave Jones djones@cbnews.es

FARMERS, union representa­tives and Alicante politician­s held a protest outside Torrevieja’s €350 million desalinati­on plant on Tuesday to demand ‘access to water’.

They called on the national government to take full advantage of all of the desalinati­on plants which have been constructe­d along the coast from Mutxamel in Alicante to Bajo Almanzora in Almería by ensuring that they are working at full capacity.

The SCRATS union, which represents farmers who rely on water from the Tajo-Segura water transfer channel, also demanded a reduced price for the sector – with the high price of desalinate­d water causing their overheads to rocket.

They held banners stating that they are ‘defending the market garden of Europe’ and urging the government to provide them with more water via desalinati­on.

It was the second in a series of demonstrat­ions which they have planned to ratchet up the pressure on the Partido Popular (PP) in Madrid over the water shortage. On this occasion members of the PP from Alicante attended the protest, including provincial president César Sánchez.

Farmers have been forced to bear the brunt of the drought as the River Segura river and water authority (CHS) opted to turn off irrigation in the Vega Baja during the autumn to save water, rather than introducin­g restrictio­ns on domestic use.

The national government is moving to increase production at Torrevieja desalinati­on plant, the largest of its kind in Europe.

However, an increased supply of electricit­y is needed before this can be achieved.

Works to run new power lines to the plant from Orihuela Costa are underway but have been inconvenie­ncing residents in the south of Torrevieja, with homeowners complainin­g that streets have been cut off.

Jim Brogan, coordinato­r for the Torresur coalition of communitie­s, highlighte­d the ‘continuing problem due to desalinati­on cable installati­on’ and lamented that residents have been ‘denied traffic access to the hospital and other streets that have been closed due to these works’.

Mr Brogan explained that he had asked their community police liaison officer to speak to the contractor­s in an effort to ensure ‘citizens are given easy traffic access to all areas’.

He suggested that temporary traffic lights or workmen to direct traffic could be used to resolve the problem.

 ??  ?? Farmers protested at Torrevieja desalinati­on plant on Tuesday
Farmers protested at Torrevieja desalinati­on plant on Tuesday

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