Pay Up Or Else
February 18th, 2012 - Chris Marshall
The El Ejido Town Hall continues to find holes in their finances following on from the ‘Enciso Years’: corruption, extravagance and mis-management.
As a result they remain short, very short, of money which is something they share with many a resident of Almerimar.
Unlike the residents though they have power on their side. So while communities struggle to keep properties maintained because people are not paying fees, while businesses continue to struggle, and while the place looks more and more distressed each week the Town Hall are starting a push on collecting their debts.
Data protection prevents them from ‘naming and shaming’ which I am told they would do. What those with debts need to be aware of though is that they are planning a raid on your bank accounts! They have the power to reclaim the whole debt from your bank directly, or as much as you have in your account effectively freezing your account if they clear it out.
I actually don’t have too much of an issue with that although it is going to cause more trouble for the individuals and result in more debt elsewhere.
It would be better to try and restructure the debt into a payment profile both sides can live with, but as that is the way they do it in Spain so be it.
What I do have a problem with is that the Town Hall are doing nothing meaningful to help Almerimar, and more importantly the people of Almerimar.
No job creation schemes, no community projects to get the place tidied up, no support for communities with debts but needing maintaining. In short what we have at the moment is getting worse.
We don’t need a Town Hall office in Almerimar, save the expense and spend it on something that makes a difference. We don’t need a Post Office in Almerimar, save the expense and spend it on something that makes a difference. We don’t even need a tourist office which would stand empty!
All these things would be nice one day but at the moment we need roads you can drive down without ruining your car. We need walls that are upright, not piles of rubble on the floor. We need paint on the building, rust off the railings and balconies.
We need an Almerimar that despite all the financial woes looks well kept, proud of itself, and somewhere that people can see the residents and Town Hall take pride in.
So if the Town Hall is going debt collecting let’s hope they actually use the money sensibly!
