Residents of Thiviers demand more diligence from the council over the renovation of the Parque Reina Sofia

Wednesday 19th October 2022 – Mike Smith
Source: Carlos López (XAD)

The residents of Thiviers have demanded that not only do the local government team give them a firm commitment to complete the works on the Parque Reina Sofía as soon as possible, but that it also “does something else” and eliminate the basketball cage that has been built in the centre of the park.

The residents highlighted all the problems of the neighborhood during the meeting with mayor José Chulvi and the councillor responsible for the neighborhood, Alberto Tur, who did not intervene for a single moment, limited himself to taking notes of the demands of the citizens. And when all the problems of the execution of some works and a contract came to light, the mayor tried in vain to explain and defend the position: “if you search in google for stopped works, it is something that happens everywhere”.

They both assured the residents that it was “a shame” how the evolution of the renovation work had gone. “some days there were two workers, another four, sometimes”, and at the beginning – said one resident – “the four workers who were there spent the whole day standing on the wall”. Another resident claimed that the cobblestone pavement in the centre of the park “has been lifted and removed five times.”

But they all agreed that one of the park’s major problems is the concrete cage for playing basketball that has been built in the centre. “I am convinced that it does not comply with safety measures,” said one of the residents, an argument that was immediately refuted by the mayor. “The projects have been supervised by technicians.” And he rejected any modification: “if we change the project now the company wins” and added that “now the important thing is to finish the project”.

Chulvi had to deal with all the usual resident complaints: the rubbish collection bins, the lack of smaller litter bins, dirty streets, dog mess, and the poor condition of the pavements. To the latter, he commented that now the laws oblige to make the pavements wider (4 meteres) and if they were extended as much, parking spaces would be eliminated. “We would have to come up with a solution to that before expanding them,” he stressed.

Another criticism from a resident regarded the gambling hall in Avenida Juan Carlos I opposite the Amparo Marsal pharmacy, who asked that it could be controlled a little more and that local police officers make an appearance because they feel intimidated by the people who go there and she affirmed that they had presented several complaints “that to date have not had a response.” With regards to the local police, another resident claimed that there should be a “neighborhood police force”, which can be responsible for those things or to control if the cars are badly parked in the places reserved for people with reduced mobility, for example.

Mayor Chulvi made an initial statement to the residents, saying several times that the park renovation project had been designed by children through the Consell dels Xiquets (English: the Children’s Council) and that the contract law is what it is and prevents the town hall from breaking the law. He announced that the project has some 30% left to be completed and that the problems arose because the contractors UTE Parques Jávea tried to modify one of the games provided for in the contract.

The mayor also insisted that they are bound by the precepts of the aforementioned law “it is not like in having work done in my house, that the day after seeing that it is wrong, I fire the contractor and hire another one”. Chulvi announced that the rescission file of the contract has been transferred to the Consell Juridic Consultiu (English: the Legal Consultative Council) and that this body must rule on whether all the steps taken by the town hall are correct, so that the cancellation of the contract can be formalized. The company will be expelled, the town hall will keep the deposit and it can be put out to tender again.

But when will that be achieved?: The mayor admitted that “I cannot commit to giving deadlines, but the Consell Jurídic Consultiu can take one to two months”. Faced with the insistence of residents in giving deadlines after a year waiting for the completion of the project, he pointed out: “I cannot commit to saying something that I am not sure of.”