After a month and a half since Carlos Tarife (PP), the Councilman for Public Services of the Santa Cruz City Council, announced the start of the ‘chair initiative’, which aims to educate citizens on properly disposing of waste inside containers, the anticipated campaign was finally launched yesterday with the presence of the councilman.
The designated location for the campaign was Miguel Hernández Street, situated in the Los Gladiolos neighbourhood, where one of the nearly thirty spots with excessive urban waste identified by Valoriza, the company responsible for the municipality’s cleaning and waste collection service, is found.
Tarife, joined by Zaida González, the district councillor for Salud-La Salle, initiated the visit in this part of the city with a live demonstration of what their campaign aims to eliminate: multiple bags and garbage strewn across the ground, despite the container islands being less than 50 meters away from the area.
“We cannot consider it normal that there are 29 sites in the capital where rubbish is improperly disposed of, requiring cleaning staff to provide an exceptional service to cover an activity outside their duties.” Despite this, he confirmed that since the launch of the campaign, the almost thirty black spots have been reduced to 24, with “another five on the verge of disappearance, resulting in 19 locations by next week where no waste will be spilled on the streets. All thanks to enhanced awareness.
Enhancements
Tarife stressed that this initiative “aims to enhance cleanliness in Santa Cruz and foster citizen conscientiousness for the elimination of these black spots, hence I want to clarify to certain socialist spokespeople who have criticised the campaign, that the ultimate goal is being achieved.”
The conservative councillor elaborated that “the initiative will persist with the symbolic chair, representing awareness and respect for the 300+ individuals who strive daily for a cleaner city, aiming to compete in cleanliness with cities such as Oviedo.” He also mentioned that this measure will be coupled with an increase in inspectors and local police, as well as the circulation of informational pamphlets among residents and merchants in the areas, with collaboration from various neighbourhood associations.
On this note, the president of the Azorín Neighbourhood Association, María Isabel López, who was also present, appreciated the launch of this campaign and affirmed that “we will convene all community presidents to help promote awareness about the significance of maintaining the cleanliness of our streets and encouraging more recycling.”
