The territorial delegate for Regeneration, Justice and Local Administration in Almeria, José Luis Delgado, has visited Lúcar, where he met with the mayor, Manuel López Encinas, and reported that the Town Council has recently received a grant of 104,415.30 euros from the Regional Ministry directed by Juan Marín to “repair the damage caused to one of the roads that links the main nucleus” of the town due to the torrential rains that occurred in the municipality.
Delgado toured some of the affected areas with the councillor and highlighted the “extraordinary effort made by the Regional Ministry” to help local councils in this type of “exceptional situation”, with resources to help them carry out repairs that they would not be able to do with their own budget.
The delegate stressed the importance of providing a rapid response to local administrations in the face of these natural disasters so that “the councils can have this money available to them within days”. Proof of this is that the Regional Ministry has progressively increased the initial budget allocated to this type of aid to 8 million euros to cover the needs that have arisen, such as the Filomena storm, the earthquakes in Granada or the latest DANA in September. It already did so in 2019 when there was also a serious episode of cold drop that affected many Andalusian towns, including Lúcar, which then received 31,573.41 euros to repair damage to streets and schools.
Along with these contributions, the delegate recalled that the Regional Ministry led by Juan Marín has also helped municipalities of less than 5,000 inhabitants such as Lúcar “at the worst moment of the pandemic” caused by the COVID, with aid to cover the extraordinary costs of cleaning, disinfection and the purchase of hygienic-sanitary material. Specifically, Lúcar received 13,364.70 euros from these funds, which allowed the council to rent disinfection machinery, hire extra staff to clean the schools and purchase equipment for teleworking during the confinement.
More than 40,500 euros for new PFEA works
During his visit, Delgado also discussed with the mayor some of the projects implemented by the Town Hall under the Agricultural Employment Promotion Programme (PFEA), co-financed by the Junta with the SEPE and the Provincial Councils. Between 2019 and 2020, the Regional Ministry has contributed almost 41,000 euros to the works carried out in public spaces and facilities such as the Alto Almanzora rural school. For the works that begin this year, the contribution of the Andalusian Government amounts to 40,500 euros. The delegate defended the importance of the PFEA for the local councils as it allows them to create employment and improve infrastructure and public services in the municipalities, helping to fix the population in the territory.
“It is an extraordinary effort and a commitment to municipalism that Juan Marín’s Regional Ministry is making,” insisted the head of Local Administration in the province.
For his part, the mayor of Lúcar welcomed the aid of more than 104,000 euros that the municipality will receive for the repair of a “main” road in very poor condition and at risk of landslides, and remarked that without this support from the Local Administration, “the Town Hall would not be able to cope”. “It is an extraordinary help and we are very grateful,” he concluded.