With a budget of 1,909,499 euros, the Arico City Council awarded the execution of the Villa de Arico I and II plaza remodeling project and surroundings, although its tender budget was 2,678,120 euros, plus 187,468 in IGIC. Of the 25 months of the call, the winning company finally promised to do it in 18. The project was approved in 2015 and the tender and start of work, in 2016. Barely a year later, the first stoppage was registered, which lasted around seven months; On May 21, 2019, the second and current suspension of the work took place, when it was 75% completed (approximate calculation), according to the assessment of the municipal government.
It is the most important work, due to its amount, that is carried out in Arico and its vicissitudes have made it the most controversial. Even when it enters the unlock phase. On July 27, and within the framework of an extraordinary budget modification of 2,328,080 euros, which included 430,000 as an additional necessary contribution to the remodeling of this square – in order to “fulfill the economic commitments derived from the work” , pointed out the councilor for the Treasury, Víctor García–, the file was approved with the votes of the parties that support the government (Primero Arico, CC and PP) and the opposition (PSOE) abstained.
Víctor García defends that this money is essential to advance in the process that will allow the completion of the new plaza in Villa de Arico. “We are about to terminate the contract with the concession company” after reaching an agreement for the payment of “a large number of unpaid bills for years.” To this end, he assures him, the administrative procedure “indispensable to resolve this situation” is developed.
As councilor responsible for Contracting, he also explains that “important steps have been taken” so that the resolution of the contract enables the drafting and execution of “what is missing” to complete the Plaza de la Villa.
The prolonged stoppage of the construction – “which I also consider excessive”, he clarifies -, the councilor attributes it “not only to administrative and economic issues – he emphasizes that they are already underway -, but with the judicial part”, since this file It is part of a complaint filed by socialist ariqueros. Víctor García perceives in this way of proceeding a purpose of “poisoning this matter with the sole objective of slowing down and paralyzing”.
Although he expresses his discrepancy with the construction project of the Villa de Arico square, he relies on “the responsibility” that a government is supposed to have to work on unblocking this project, “due to the need that citizens have” for this space and the public resources that its execution will provide.
Víctor García ends by calling for sanity and harmony: «From a political point of view, I hope that all the parties in our municipality are united so that Arico has the place it deserves and citizens can soon enjoy this space» .
The project
With a useful area of 6,396 square metres, the Remodeling of the Villa de Arico I and II square and its surroundings» contemplates the creation of a municipal library with 360 square metres, four function and multipurpose rooms, as well as two rooms for exhibitions totaling 745 square meters, in addition to a crypt that will exceed 135 square meters, as well as public toilets.
The original idea dates back to 1994, although in all this time it has gone through various vicissitudes, having to adapt to the latest regulations. One of the relevant issues for the town will be the road reorganization of the area, affecting Meleque, Manzano, Benítez de Lugo and La Asomadita streets. The channera earthenware (basaltic ignimbrite) will be an essential element in this project.
Olivia Delgado, local spokesperson for the PSOE, describes as “worrying and dark” that the municipal government rejected the socialist proposal on the square derived from neighborhood meetings, consisting of resolving the contract, drafting the projects to complete the work, of the economic item for it and the bidding is carried out. In addition, Delgado assures that the neighbors request a meeting with the Plenary so that the municipal technicians and the secretary explain the problems of the works and how and when they can be completed. “So far, the neighbors have not been allowed to see the file,” says Delgado. In his opinion, “after so many falsehoods spread by the members of the Arico government, it has become clear that there is no judicial order to stop the works” and that they were “purely and exclusively on the instructions of the director of works, endorsed by the municipal technicians”, because the project, approved “skipping the technical criteria, was deficient”. |
