Javier Monroy, the first of the lowest row, with the mayor in the background presiding over the plenary session. /
The mayor asks the socialist Javier Monroy to withdraw a copy of an information published in HOY in which the repercussions of the lack of personnel in the City Council are reported
The mayor, Ignacio Gragera, assessed this Monday that “everything is political motives” when the socialist councilor Javier Monroy took out a copy of the information published in HOY this Sunday under the title “Personnel problems and disorganization of the City Council delay projects in Badajoz”. Gragera reminded him that posters or banners cannot be displayed and took the opportunity to assess the information.
The mayor recalled that the project to build a service area next to the Nevero industrial estate was “paralyzed by the Board” and that “it is resolved or will be resolved now.” “Everything is likely to improve, but (at City Hall) it has been six months.”
The Councilor for Urbanism, Carlos Urueña, has assured that the license to Seyma Park SL was granted on Thursday 26, one day after TODAY’s questions about this project, and that yesterday they sent the notification to the promoters.
That information cited other projects, both private and municipal, that are delayed by staff needs. For example, the ten months that the building license has required for the expansion of Huerta Rosales. According to the Councilor for Urbanism, Carlos Urueña, half of this period (five months) corresponds to the Junta de Extremadura. Or the warning issued by Civitas Pacensis in February about the processing of its Campus Civitas neighborhood and the construction of 2,700 homes. Either they speed up the permits or they lose the investors. This, as indicated on Sunday, already has the first approval.
Urueña recalled the increase in work in Urban Planning services due to the expansion of the city. This year and last year they will give licenses for between 500 and 600 homes, while in 2018 10% of that figure was given.
Delays not only occur in private projects, but also in municipal initiatives. Among them, the rehabilitation of the San Juan convent and the old San Pedro de Alcántara school.
The CSIF union points to the decrease in staff in different services, increased by retirements during the years of the pandemic in which replacement rates were not met. Taking Urbanismo as an example, according to the 2022 budgets, it has a structure of 40 workers. But he has eleven of those vacancies. In addition, the catalog of jobs dates back 20 years and has become outdated, according to Csif.
The City Council has an administrative jam because this lack of personnel is compounded by the number of investment projects that lie ahead. There are the Dusi, who injected 18 million euros in 2018 and there is still an important part without executing, the plans to boost the local economy (20 million in 2021 and 21.2 million in 2022) plus the budgets. These have an ambitious investment chapter, with 11 million euros, and more money than ever.
www.hoy.es
Eddie is an Australian news reporter with over 9 years in the industry and has published on Forbes and tech crunch.