The mayor of Amposta, Adam Tomàs, said this Monday that if the council has not yet paid for this year's garbage collection service, it is because the Montsià Regional Council has not yet approved the costs for 2024.
Tomás pointed this out following statements to 'Canal 21' by the vice president of the Terres de l'Ebre Environmental Policy Consortium (COPATE), Diana Valimanya, where she accused the Ampostine council of not paying and generating debt to the consortium. Tomàs has stated that they have 2.1 million euros allocated to pay for the service but that they cannot pay the bills because they do not know "what the cost is" and that if they were paid under these conditions they would be committing "a serious irregularity." However, he has attacked PSC and Junts in the council and has asked them “to do their job.”
The municipalities of Montsià have delegated the powers of waste collection and management and health to the Regional Council, which in turn manages the services through COPATE.
Tomàs explained at a press conference that if the town councils approve the ordinances in October, they need the county council to have approved the cost of the following year's service by September at the latest in order to reserve money in the budget.
“As of May 6, the Montsià Regional Council has not yet approved the costs of waste collection for 2024. We have made an estimate and we have the money allocated, but we do not know what the invoices will cost,” the mayor justified.
Likewise, he asked for “seriousness and coherence” from the regional councilors of Junts and PSC for “charging” the municipalities of Amposta and Alcanar – governed by ERC – for not having transferred the money. “It is not a debt because we cannot pay,” he assured.
Tomàs detailed that in 2023, waste collection and health management - which includes treatment against mosquitoes in the delta and against rodents and cockroaches in the municipality - had a cost of 1.9 million euros.
“In 2024, as a result of the increase in the waste collection fee, we will allocate 2.1 million in collection and about 60,000 in sanitation,” he highlighted. “We have the money, when the Regional Council does the job well done, we will pay,” he snapped.
Regarding the treatment against mosquitoes in the delta, the mayor has warned that the Consell is working with the prices extended to 2023, which could mean that there is not enough money to carry out all the fumigation.
“It may happen that we have a drama with mosquitoes. The Consell Comarcal del Montsià will now explain to the tourism sector in the delta why mosquito treatments cannot be carried out in time,” he warned.
