THE COASTRIDER
Costa clean-up promised, but on public land only
The campaign to clean up Orihuela Costa has begun, according to the Green Party, Los Verdes, who met with PP Councillor Jose Aniorte last week to present photographic evidence of 30 fly tipping sites sent to them by local residents.
Los Verdes Councillor, Monseratte Guillen, received assurances from Councillor Aniorte that the dumping sites identified on public land would be cleared by 9 May 2008. The Councillor was unable say the same about fly tipping on private land, as there is currently no byelaw to enable the council to deal with this problem. Los Verdes consider this situation to be unacceptable, and are calling on Orihuela’s ruling PP party to implement a byelaw as quickly as possible.
However, one long-term eyesore and public health hazard was receiving some attention last week, and that was the site which the Town Hall promised, but failed, to clear in September 2007, situated on Calle Malvinas in the Las Filipinas area of Orihuela Costa. One local resident told me as we watched the digger at work: “About time too. How the council have allowed this rubbish tip to exist and grow for such a long time with people living all around it I will never know. They have known for a long time that rats live in the rubbish, very near to people’s houses. But if this is council land, it needs to be developed into a garden, or other leisure facility, otherwise, before we know it, it will soon become a rubbish dump again.”
Los Verdes representatives have written to all the local residents who supplied them with photographic evidence to present to Councillor Aniorte, to thank them for their concern about this issue. But the message from Los Verdes is that the campaign has really just begun. In the letter issued by coastal Los Verdes representative, Elliot Sampford, said: “We cannot yet claim this initial part of the campaign as a success, as we must wait to see if the promised clean-up takes place. We are aware of the PP Council’s record of failing to keep its promises, as it has done with the failure to close the illegal rubbish tip in PAU 26, alongside the AP7 and next to the Entré Golf urbanisation.”
The letter also calls for those people who have supplied information to Los Verdes to check that the council keeps it promise to clean areas of public land by 9 May, and to let Los Verdes know if it doesn’t happen. Likewise, should dumping happen after any clean-up operation has taken place, or should any new fly-tipping sites appear, Los Verdes will be continuing to put pressure on the ruling PP to keep the coast clean. They need residents to keep providing them with photographic evidence, including pictures of people in the act of dumping, of course, without the public putting themselves in any danger by doing so.
It is difficult to know whether this clean-up operation will have any long-term impact, because Orihuela, unlike neighbouring Torrevieja, does not have an eco-park in which to deposit building waste. The current waste management company, Colsur, who are operating on the coast without a contract, are not required to remove builders’ rubbish. And building suppliers, such as Terrapilar and Tabisam, do not have high deposits on their delivery bags, which will continue to make convenient mini-skips for those who wish to save money by not bothering to get a skip of their own.
While the Los Verdes campaign is to be applauded, this issue is much bigger than a one-off clean-up. It’s going to require some detailed planning, including a campaign to change attitudes and to reinforce the fact that a filthy coast will do further damage to an industry that so many people rely on - tourism. It will be interesting to see what Los Verdes can come up with in terms of byelaws and other proposals, and whether their proposals are adopted.
In the meantime, keep sending Los Verdes representatives photographs of perpetrators of fly-tipping including number plates and business logos if you can safely do so, new rubbish sites or existing ones, and let Los Verdes know if Councillor Aniorte keeps to his promise. Please give details of the exact locations and the dates the photographs were taken, and send the pictures to losverdesorihuela@yahoo.es. Insert ‘Fly-tipping’ in the subject heading.
Rebecca Griffin