The City Council of Santa Cruz, under an official decree from the Department of Works and Infrastructure, has declared the immediate need to tender the works for the renovation of the Las Delicias football field in Ofra. The project, with a budget of 1.4 million Euros, is set to recommence in September with the aim of completion between January and February 2025. Mayor José Manuel Bermúdez stated, “The project focuses on enhancing the grass, renovating and modernising the Las Delicias football field, and upgrading the electrical installation. It has faced several challenges that we had to overcome administratively to reach the project contract’s termination.”
The mayor acknowledged that “the delays caused by the contractor have impacted the local administration, but our primary concern is the failure to meet the set deadlines communicated to the clubs, families, and users of this facility, which can now finally resume its refurbishment.”
Infrastructure Councillor, Javier Rivero, elaborated, “Within five months, we have resolved an unexpected situation arising from a company’s failure to meet the financial and technical requirements initially met during the tender process.”
However, he highlighted that “later on, there was a breach of contracts at both the La Salud and Las Delicias football fields, leading to a complete halt in works, causing damages to the city council and the sports clubs utilising the facilities.”
Meanwhile, Sports Councillor, Alicia Cebrián, expressed her satisfaction that “works are resuming” at this sports complex, adding to the ongoing initiatives across various football fields in the municipality. This forms part of the council’s strategy to enhance the sports facilities in Santa Cruz.”
It was noted that on January 23, 2023, the technical project for the grass rehabilitation of the Las Delicias field, designed by architect Antonio Gabriel Arbelo Pimienta, was approved. The construction contract was then awarded to Proyectos y Obra Civil 2012 on May 29 of the same year, starting work in July with a value of 925,221 Euros.
Works were halted last January, prompting the Governing Board to delegate the authority to the Infrastructure Councillor to take necessary actions in accordance with the Public Sector Contracts Law.
After exploring various administrative solutions with the contractor and witnessing repeated breaches with continuous work stoppages in April, the decision was made to terminate the contract, deemed a severe breach warranting contractual termination.
