The territorial delegate for Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Aránzazu Martín, together with the mayor of Húercal-Overa, Domingo Fernández, has visited one of the rural roads included in the Itínere Plan in the province of Almería, which will soon begin its implementation with a global allocation for the province of 9.5 million euros.
Martin stressed that “this is one of the most important projects of the Regional Ministry, both for the investment effort involved and for the extraordinary benefit it will have on the rural environment by improving its connection routes and the agricultural and livestock sector in the province”.
On the Plan Itínere in Almería, the delegate has valued “the commitment of the Junta with an unprecedented investment that triples the previous call in 2017, going from 2.7 million euros to the current 9.54 million euros”. In addition, Martin has assured that “we are talking about one of the most important innovations where the Andalusian Government finances 100 percent of the works in an unprecedented commitment to the rural world, through an eminently municipalist plan by the decisive support to the municipalities as owners of the roads”.
Aránzazu Martín has detailed that “the Junta assumes the entire workload: projects, tendering and execution”, so that, as she has stated, “we cannot forget that the previous call for proposals obliged the local councils to assume the entire workload, which meant that many of the councils gave up 15 million euros of approved aid because they could not assume 40% of the funding”.
In the province of Almería, Plan Itínere will benefit 37 roads in 31 municipalities, the vast majority of which have less than 5,000 inhabitants. The territorial delegate said that “if it were not for this initiative, it would be difficult for the municipalities to take on this investment and administrative workload”. “We are boosting the productive fabric of rural areas and helping to fix the population. 66% of the Andalusian population resides in rural municipalities”, explained Martín.
The territorial delegate and the mayor of Huércal-Overa have visited one of the paths located in this town. Specifically, they have toured part of the Camino de García, which will have an investment of 286,000 euros and will act on a length of more than 4 kilometres. The work will consist of replacing road surfaces, drainage and ditches, signposting and widening the verge, which will make it possible to improve safety on a road that is heavily used by heavy vehicles, as they have had the opportunity to see.
Mayor Domingo Fernández thanked the Andalusian government for “its commitment to the agricultural and livestock sector by providing solutions and promoting important actions for the local councils”. For Huércal-Overa this plan, as the councillor stated, “will allow us to improve a deteriorated rural road that will benefit the wellbeing of the residents of this rural area”.
A crucial plan for Andalusia
The plan for the improvement of rural roads includes a global investment in the Andalusian autonomous community, which has increased from 40 million euros under the previous government to 75 million euros in almost 1,000 kilometres of 259 rural roads in 200 municipalities.
The works of the Itínere Plan will generate more than 1,200 jobs, which will give a further boost to recovery through this economic injection from the Andalusian Government. Furthermore, the extensive network of rural roads in the autonomous region is crucial for agricultural development and activity, as the condition of these roads has a direct impact on the competitiveness of 230,000 farms and is key to communications in rural areas and the development of initiatives to boost these villages.