Juan de Dios Fresneda, mayor of the municipality, commits to activating its reopening
With the call and celebration of a protest rally at the entrance gate of the Padre Jesús park in San Miguel de Salinas, the ‘San Miguel Arcángel’ Neighborhood Association echoes the citizen’s unrest due to the prolonged stoppage of the remodeling works. of the park and is offered as a channel for the resolution of this conflict.
The municipal plenary session on December 18, 2020 agreed to remodel the park and to do so, the Alicante Provincial Council’s Plan + Cerca was adopted. The contract was awarded on July 7, 2022, but only for the first phase of the works for an amount of €128,000 with an execution period of two months. A year later, on July 25, 2023, a new contract was awarded for the purchase and installation of the park’s games and furniture for an amount of €236,733 and a completion period of three months, of which two have been consumed.
The Neighborhood Association describes the behavior of the municipal government as laziness and neglect since it has spent almost three years remodeling the park, depriving children of the use and enjoyment of the main green and recreational space in the urban area. Padre Jesús Park is located a few meters from the Gloria Fuertes preschool and primary school and in one of the most densely populated areas of the municipality.
The association denounces that, fourteen months later, the debris from the park remodeling works remains in a lot on the outskirts of the municipality instead of being taken to an authorized manager, as stated in the contract specifications. In addition to contaminating the soil and spoiling the landscape, the municipal government has opened an illegal landfill. They regret that the city council, instead of combating illegal landfills, generates them and ask for the immediate removal and subsequent recycling of construction debris.
The mayor of the municipality, Juan de Dios Fresneda , conveys that the government team is aware of the existing concern about the Padre Jesús park. Therefore, they have explained the situation and the solutions in a short space of time.
Firstly, it has been agreed with the company that obtained the tender that the park will be open in four or six weeks at most, although some of the planned children’s games will be incorporated later.
The first phase , subsidized by the Provincial Council, was completed but once finished and with plans to begin the second phase, it was when the council did not have the necessary technicians to carry out the tender.
At this time , the second phase is being tendered and awarded to a company that has informed the council of its readiness to begin work on it. For this reason, the City Council has activated the reopening of Padre Jesús Park.
Fresneda understands the neighbors’ concern and adopts the commitment that the park will be open, even without completely completing the second phase, and appreciates the patience on the part of the neighbors who “will be rewarded with the facilities at the level of what they deserve.” the population of San Miguel de Salinas.