The territorial delegate for Sustainable Development, Raquel Espín, has attended the delivery of 20 new vehicles that have already been incorporated into the cars currently used by environmental agents in Almería to carry out their work. Espín pointed out that, in just two years, the current Andalusian Government is renewing 75% of this fleet by incorporating a total of 464 vehicles in the autonomous community of Andalusia.
The new vehicles represent, as the delegate explained, “a great improvement for the agents in the performance of their daily work, as well as implementing security for the agents”. Raquel Espín assured that “the average age of the cars was about 16 years, and therefore, an urgent modernisation was needed, as these are professionals who work in difficult conditions in the countryside”.
The Andalusian government is acquiring the new cars through a four-year leasing contract, to which, optionally, a further year could be added. The vehicles included in the transaction are 265 Dacia Duster 4×4 and 25 Toyota Land Cruiser 4×4 for the Environment agents and 101 electric Toyota for the territorial delegations of Sustainable Development that will be incorporated in the coming months. Due to the shortage of chips in the automotive sector, a slight delay in the incorporation of the Toyota vehicles is foreseen, which will take place over the next few months. In total, the public investment related to this action amounts to 10 million euros.
The delegate pointed out that the Andalusian government is committed to improving the working conditions of this staff by increasing the bonuses received by the agents who participate in the work of the Infoca. The head of the branch has pointed out that the Regional Ministry headed by Carmen Crespo is already working in this direction within the framework of the sectoral committee and has expressed hope that the green light will be given to this initiative “as a matter of urgency”. The Regional Ministry has also highlighted the investment of 1.2 million euros “which is being implemented” to provide new uniforms for “a body which needs the contribution of the Andalusian Regional Government and to which we must continue to offer materials for its modernisation”.